I'm really fascinated by this stuff, as planning out how you're going to (ab)use the video hardware is key to getting the most out of these old machines - modern machines are so boring, with high resolution and unlimited colors, and no need for split screens and hblank trickery. I grew up on old Ataris but was too young (or too lame) to do anything but putter around in Basic at the time, and I love reading about the clever ways people have come up with to stretch the limits of the machine. I wish there were more graphic examples on the web demonstrating what you can do in these exotic modes.

Hardly surprising, considering Hildon really wasn't very good. Sluggish, clumsy, and tending to waste a lot of very precious screen real estate - not that I see how switching to Qt changes any of those things. Still, it sounds like they're basically throwing the whole UI and all the software written for it out, and that sucks. I've long been tempted to write a little music toy app to run on my N800, but I should probably just buy an iPhone or a Pre (given that I don't actually carry the N800 around anywhere anyway).

Comedy gold!

It appears you've taken a criticism of a collection of computer programs personally. Who said I was endorsing Windows? A general criticism of the state of Gnome or KDE does not constitute an endorsement of any alternative. Indeed, such a "you're either with us or against" mentality is antithetical to the spirit of choice. Whether I install Windows or Linux with Gnome, I end up with something very similar - a large, integrated collection of mediocre applications which I don't really want to use once the novelty has worn off. Ideally, I'd use neither. The specific choice between e.g. the faint aroma of evil lingering around Windows Media Player versus the bungling incompetence of "Totem" -- and again my answer is "neither" -- is left to your personal preference.