Flashing the ROM on my HTC Touch Pro2

I couldn't help myself. I had to try to new Windows Mobile 6.5 ROM on my Verizon HTC Touch Pro2 smartphone. I probably should have waited for the weekend, but I just couldn't resist. I've flashed many ROMs on my older HTC phones, so I was very comfortable with a ROM upgrade.

Here's what I was expecting with this ROM upgrade:

• OS Upgrade to Windows Mobile 6.5
• Updated drivers to support Global VZ Navigator (Are you planning on traveling internationally anytime soon? The Touch Pro2 is a World Phone)
  
• HTC TouchFlo 3D enhancements
  

Current image version: 1.18.605.12
Updated to image version: 3.04.605.3

Here's what happened:

• I saw the familiar HTC 4-color (red/green/blue/white) bootloader screen, followed by the gray progress bar.
• It took less than a minute for the ROM to get loaded on the phone.
• It took less than 3 minutes for the ROM to unpack and load on the phone (gray screen with blue progress bar).
• Orange Windows screen (preparing your phone for first use...) - progress bar at the bottom. Took less than 2 minutes.
• Prompt to calibrate screen.
• HTC TouchFlo 3D wizard.
• I was up and running!

So the entire process took less than 15 minutes. I immediately noticed new icons, more color, and a slightly improved interface. Here were my first impressions of Windows Mobile 6.5 on my Touch Pro2:

• The Opera Browser is still 9.5 (build 17963)
• Marketplace (App Store) is a nice feature in Windows Mobile 6.5. You'll have to create a Windows Live account. Installing apps is much easier. However, this isn't a comprehensive App Store. I couldn't find Epocrates or Skyscape, but that's no surprise.
  
• Mobile Internet Explorer is better, but still not as robust and powerful as Skyfire or Opera Mobile. The zoom bar at the bottom works on Mobile Internet Explorer. Nice!
  
• File Explorer. Didn't change much.
• Windows Media Player. Also didn't change much.
  
• Improved radio? Supposedly the radio has changed. I suppose I should have written down all my old info. Well, here's the new info: ROM version 3.04.605.3 and the Radio version is 2.23.00WV
  
• WorldCard Mobile. Looks like a nice little app to capture business cards using the phone's camera.

So, was it worth the upgrade? I suppose it was since I was going to eventually upgrade. There's a part of me that's eagerly waiting for Windows Mobile 7 and hoping that it will be a significant improvement to the current Windows Mobile 6.5 OS. Unless Windows Mobile 7 is a stellar OS, I suspect that I'll be using an Android smartphone fairly soon.