My Nokia E7-00 Belle update - the good, the bad, a...

Question

Late last night I installed Belle on my E7-00 Anna.  It was a completely hands-off install using the USB cable connected to my PC.  It took about 15 minutes with multiple restarts of the phone all done by the software update.
I have a 12MB Internet connection (or so my service provider claims) and a UPS backup to reduce the chance of failure due to a poor Internet connection or untimely power outage.
The update was uneventful and the update software did perform a backup before the actual update began.  I did do a backup myself of the Anna install before doing the Belle update.
Although I am technically very experienced and competent with Windows based computer hardware and software,  I don't consider myself particularly knowledgeable in cell phone technology.  So I was glad to see the update go smoothly.
However, all was not peaches and cream after the update completed.  Once I started to use the phone I found that many, though not all, of additional application I had downloaded under Anna were no longer on the phone.  Also, many settings were gone as well such as my WLAN settings, and later I found all my Favorites gone.
I spent a couple of hours going through all the menus reorganizing the interface and the various options to get the phone in what I consider to be a usable state.  These things are made so that one can optimize to suit ones needs and I take advantage of that.
I'm disappointed that I had to spend so much time and effort doing this (actually redoing what had been done in Anna) and feel that the update should have, and could have, kept many of my settings.  I understand that the new widgets and home screens meant a re-jigging of those things but, for example, why did I have to re-enter all the WLAN settings required to connect to my home router, including a very long security string? More below.
I am glad that I did the update in spite of all the time and trouble to get everything working again and to suit my personal preferences.  I suspect a lot of users who have less experience than I in these things will be seeking help to get all their phone features working again.
Perhaps it would be useful to explain how I use my phone.  This is my 6th or 7th cell phone and I'm on my second cell service provider (about 8 years).  I have had cell phones continuously ever since they were small enough to carry on one's belt.
I am not a power user.  I use the camera occasionally for recording information.  I don't download music for listening but occasionally listen to music from the Internet via WLAN.  I have not sent more than about a dozen text message in my life, though I have unlimited texting in my cell service package.
I use my cell phone mostly for business calls.  I do not have any data service from my service provider.  I tried the data service for about 3 months but found that I used it very little.  I don't have a Twitter account (thinking about it) nor a Facebook account (and not thinking about it) so other than the rare instance to search the Internet for some information (when not near my own WLAN connection) I found little use for it.  Data service here in Canada is one of the most expensive of any country (or so I have seen reported on the Internet).  So I decided to save the money.
I do all of my email at my office or at home on desktop PCs with big screens and full size keyboards.  Occasionally I connect to my home WLAN with my phone to check email or to check for updates to the phone software.  But I don't like to do much typing on the phone keyboard, even though it is really a very good keyboard for a cell phone.
I do use the map/GPS feature regularly and think it is one of the best I've used.  I've gone through about five stand-alone GPS units which gives me some reference for comparison.
I'm not much of a game player, never have been, even on my computer.  I do have Angry Birds because it was free, and it is nice once in awhile to have something to occupy time when waiting at a doctors office or for a haircut, etc. and all the newspapers and magazines are old.
Here are things that I especially like about the new Nokia (Symbian) Belle software update:
I like the clock screen saver (I use the digital version rather than the analog display) because I can quickly look at my phone without having to unlock it and see the time/date (I've stopped wearing a watch).  It is also a great nightstand clock and alarm.  With the Light Bar app installed it is not too bright for sleeping but visible when needed.  I suspect though that it is sucking a lot of battery power and I may have to disable the clock screen saver if battery charging is too frequent.
The user interface is very good.  It is terribly easy to add or remove widgets and move them around on the home screen to suit ones needs.  The bar across the bottom makes accessing the applications menu, phone dialer, or options menu extremely quick and easy.
The pull down connectivity menu is superb.  With one touch I can turn on or off my Bluetooth, which I use with my car hands-free feature everyday.  Turning Bluetooth often when not need saves power.  With three taps of the screen I can connect to my home router, or disconnect with one tap.
A new capability that I now have and wished for previously on my E7 (but couldn't figure out how to do) is being able to put my phone in Off-line mode and still use the WLAN feature.  This is great in the evening at home when I don't want to be connected to my cell phone provider, but I do want to look up something quickly on the Internet without going to my desktop PC.
After the Belle update I found that I still had the following applications (originally installed in Anna) still available on the phone:
  Angry Birds
  US and Canada Maps plus voice guidance
  App Stop Camera Lover Pack (multiple apps)
  Opera Mini
  Sticky Notes
Here is a list of software and setting that were no longer on the phone after the Belle update:
Applications
Public Transportation
Beeps and Vibrations voice guidance
Converter
GPS Info QT
Compass Lite
Nokia Internet Radio
Display Brightness Control
Nokia Battery Monitor 2
Compass Touch
Here and Now
Settings
WLAN settings and password strings for three routers
Start-up custom Welcome message
Phone display settings
Route settings for maps
Voice guidance settings
Home location for maps
Lost all Favorites including many map locations and Internet radio Favorites
Lost all call logs
Lost all phone pairing - car and headset
Lost call mailbox number
Since I have had the Belle update for less than 24 hours I am certain that there is more for me to discover.  But I thought it may be useful to provide this experience report as a heads-up for those about to do the same.  And now I will have to update my E6-00.

Answer 1

Thank you for the feedback hpholm.
I hope that you are very wrong about having to sync with OVI online services.  I have never done that.  Nowhere have I seen that as a requirement to store all the data on my phone.  And as I said, I do not pay for a data service with my cell provider and only connect my phone to the Internet through my home or work router, or through my PC via USB cable. So syncing to a remote site is not attractive to me.
My impression from Nokia on-line information is that the Nokia Suite application, which runs on my PC, backs up my phone - everything.  Where is the logic in backing up everything except my map Favorites.  Why would those be an exception?
Additionally, I am not interested in having to backup my confidential information to someone else's server where (in my opinion) I have less security than on my own PC (I do tech support and know how to lock down a computer).
Also, in most cases when one puts information on someone else's server, especially a free service from the like of Google, Facebook, Twitter, (might I suggest Nokia?) etc.  one loses control and rights to that information.  I'm unwilling to do that simply because someone else thinks it is good for me to do.  Ha!
Nothing is truly free.  You pay somehow.  These service aren't there because they are altruistic.  How many billions is the IPO for Facebook worth?  Gotta be a reason.  All that information that people put there about themselves and others is the reason.
I doubt Facebook would pay me anything to put personal info on their site.  I assume most people would think me a bit loony to expect it.
In any event, though there is a lot to like about the Belle update, there are a lot of unnecessary complications, with no warnings!
As I read the posts about peoples experiences with the Belle update I'm seeing a lot of disappointment.  From my experience in computing hardware, software and network support it is my opinion that the Belle update was rushed and was done in a less than professional manner.
From what I've been reading, people who have updated to Belle have generally expected it to be near perfect and hassle free, and many are really disappointed.  The end experience with the Anna update was much better in my opinion.  Not good for Nokia customer relations. 
Nokia customer loyalty easily rivaled that of Apple.  But that has been seriously damaged with things like trashing Memo, going with the MS Windows phone OS, and a disappointing Belle update for all those expensive Nokia smart phones.  Kinda dumb.
I suspect that most if not all of the first line developers have been pulled off Symbian to do development work on the Windows phone OS.  The missing or incomplete bits and pieces in Belle, plus some gratuitous changes suggest less then experienced software developers working on Belle.
Enough grousing.  I just hope that things get fixed, but I'm feeling very pessimistic right now.  I wouldn't mind being proved wrong.