An interesting post at the Symbian-Guru, showing 10 things Android does better than Symbian got me thinking. What struck me was that all of these things that Android indeed could do better than Symbian, were all things Maemo had already taken care of. Everything from the Browsing experience, multiple home screen and even notifications are advantages that Android may have over Symbian, but certainly not Maemo. In fact, all of these “new” features set to be introduced in the upcoming version of Symbian can be used right now using the N900 and Maemo.
After using Maemo on the Nokia N900, Symbian looks and feels outdated. Judging by the recent Symbian^3 and ^4 videos, fails to impress with just minor changes. Even Engadget seems to agree.
The N900/Maemo combo’s multi-tasking abilities could make any PC proud. Symbian in contrast feels leisurely when performance is concerned and is limited in multi-tasking. Unlike Symbian, Maemo is actually useable. The classic example is that of having multiple applications and browsers open and still having the ability to keep a Youtube video playing in the background and even having enough horsepower to show a preview of this video on the Dashboard! Unlike Symbian, the N900/Maemo combo never keeps you waiting and there isn’t really a limit to how many apps you can keep open with 1GB of RAM. For many PCs this is plenty enough, for a mobile device this is simply heaven. The best part is that performance never suffers, even with multiple apps or browser windows open.
Apps look great with next generation effects, even the system sounds are cool. There aren’t confusing soft keys, just point to where you want to go. Applications are also updated automatically and so far I’ve didn’t have the need to update the firmware using a PC. Sure, Maemo on a smartphone is fairly new and still needs a few fixes here and there.
We can also mention Maemo’s tightly integrated uploading features, Skype and Conversations. Features that Symbian doesn’t necessarily lacks, but isn’t as polished as Maemo.
Last but not least, we can mention Maemo’s crown jewel, its browser. Something that Symbian and in fact any other mobile device can match.
I can go on and on, but simply put: Maemo is in my opinion better than Symbian. For this reason I’ve simply stopped using current Symbian device, especially 5th edition based devices. One notable exception are the E72, E55 and E52. It’s sure going to take a lot to get me back to Symbian.
Do you agree? Is Maemo/MeeGo better than Symbian?
Maemo is better than Symbian everybody knows except Nokia itself. N900 owners want to get official support and total upgrade to Meego. Nokia don’t shoot your feet.
Hi Devin,
I have preferred Maemo to Symbian since the N800 by a long mile and that was before Maemo had a good camera & phone functionality. Now with a phone and a good camera, Symbian who?
;o)
Unfortunately, I had the chance to use the N900 for a few months and completely hated it. While it does have some definite benefits over Symbian, as you mention, it’s a complete fail as an everyday-use device. No portrait mode except in the phone and web browser means it’s exclusively a two-handed device, and I don’t always have both hands free. The lack of portrait text input drove me bonkers, as did the lack of voice-guided navigation (which I actually use quite often).
Of course it comes down to personal preference and priorities, though. Maybe the next Maemo….er….MeeGo…..er….whatever they decide to change the name to will be much better.
I have an E90 with Symbian and have to say that the N900 doesn’t hold a candle to it, regarding either hardware or software. That goes for any other phone out there, to be honest.
its not very user friendly os breaks to easy install an app a mess up your phone and have to re-flash it which can frak for phone since its not user friendly and program where the user has to see command line code in action is half assed unpolished and not meant for the public half the problems on meamo or never seen in android or windows mobile or iphone(threw up in my mouth when i said iphone
)or palm pre
Not sure what you are comparing here. Currently there is only one phone enabled device that runs Maemo. A better comparison of a general purpose OS and desktop manager would be between the Maemo Hildon interface and Ubuntu MID as far as the end user is concerned. Symbian S60 is an embeded OS (primarily) used on phone devices and therfor has completely different set of requirements.
So this discussion ends up comparing OS on tbe basis of the actual hardware it runs on, which has little to do with the title.