Cupcake to Eclair - geek, not foodie

I have been the happy owner of a Motorola Cliq for about a year.  The Cliq used the Android OS 1.5, called Cupcake.  (Not sure what is with the food fetish).

I had no real complaints, but as time passed, some of the apps being recommended to me would not run on Cupcake.  Although really, did I need the Kindle app?  Am I really going to read a book on a 4 inch screen?  But I am enough of a geek to dislike being behind in technology.

So I was thrilled when Android 2.1 (Eclair) was finally offered as an upgrade to Cliq users.  But the thrill didn't last.

I read ALL of the instructions.  And there were pages and pages of them.  Maybe that should have been my first clue.  I realized I had a cable for connectivity at work, so I downloaded the upgrade and installed it.  And it bailed on me.  It got stuck in a shutting down, booting up cycle. 

Another bad sign - there was a FAQ for just this situation.

I removed the battery as recommended.  That didn't stop the cycling. So, reluctantly, I did a factory reset, as the trouble-shooting guide suggested.  Only I couldn't finish the reset because I didn't have 3G connectivity in the office, nor did I know the password for the Wi-Fi here. I was NOT a happy camper.

When I got home, I set my Wi-Fi connection back up and finished resetting my phone. The good news was that the update was in place after the reset.  The bad news was that not everything I had downloaded showed up in My Download.  Among the missing, my 2 favorite apps, which I paid for, which I use nearly every day.

Anxious to get my phone back to its pre-upgrade state, I didn't bother to look for my receipt e-mails.  I downloaded them anyway and paid again. The one was only $3.  But the other was $15.  Impatience has its price.

Finally I got everything mostly restored and I was able to use my phone.  There were some differences I liked, such as the native widgets for turning Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on and off.  Some I didn't, like having to slide the lock icon instead of double-tapping the menu button to unlock. But overall, I was okay with it.

Then the next day I couldn't get my music to play.  I was frantic.  I was furious.  I Googled.  I talked to an Android compatriot.  Nothing. 

I had plugged my phone into my computer to remove the update file as required.  Only I didn't change the USB from drive to charge.  So the music wouldn't play.  I could argue for better messaging, but this instance was user error.

And it turns out that I really love the new Connected Music Player.  It even displays the lyrics for the song I am playing.  How cool is that!

So overall, happy with upgrade, unhappy with upgrade process.