N97 Windows 7 Ovi Suite vs PC Suite

Question

I upgraded from a working N95 to an N97 that's giving me too many headaches and would like some help.
There are problems with the phone itself.  If I place/take a call with the phone operating as a speakerphone, the the other person always has difficulty hearing me.  Then there are the GPS problems, which is the main reason I bought into the N Series - the N95 worked so well, even though it never seems to update its maps (some roads and roundabouts are missing, as well as the postcode errors common to all satnavs).  If the upgrade to V2.0 firmware (still waiting on Vodafone UK to release this) doesn't sort this and the frequent freezing that requires removing the battery, I'm returning this phone.  To those who've successfully upgraded to the latest firmware, does it solve these problems I mentioned?
Then there are problems with the PC software.  It appears as though the designers of Ovi Suite wanted to focus on form and ignore function.  I upgraded to Windows 7.  No upgrades have been released by Nokia for Windows 7 to date, despite the long public beta programme.  According to other posters on this forum, the Ovi Suite and PC Suite software work with Windows 7 but it hasn't been perfect.
First, Windows 7 doesn't include Windows Calendar and Windows Contacts anymore (included up to Vista).  They're forcing us to use Outlook or Windows Live.  Ovi Suite 2.0.1.35 doesn't work with Windows Live - so if I want to manage/sync my calendar on/with my PC, I have to use PC Suite.
PC Suite may not look as impressive as Ovi Suite, but it is significantly more useful.  PC Suite also doesn't work with Windows Live (at nearly £100, I won't be buying Outlook!).  But at least I can directly manage my calendar via my PC.  Also, I couldn't get Ovi Suite to login to my Ovi account - complained about no Internet connection when that's not the case.  So Ovi Suite 2.0 is being replaced by PC Suite as I write this.
Even before moving to Windows 7, Ovi Suite did not sync properly with Vista's Calendar and Contacts - so since getting the N97, I've had to stick with PC Suite.  After upgrading to Windows 7, I started getting problems installing the MTP driver (it would always fail) - I found a registry hack on this post that solved that problem.
Also, I've put about 2,500 tracks on my phone, but the Nokia Music app is very slow to upload any tracks and is not as user-friendly as Sony Ericsson's MediaGo app, or iTunes.  And if I'm in the view that shows every track, if I make a change to a track, it automatically pops back to the top of the list - I waste too much time moving back to where I was in the list.
I hope the N97 becomes a useful phone, and Nokia release proper software for Windows 7, by Christmas - if not, this is the last time I trust any advertising from Nokia about its products.  I'm stuck on with this phone until 2011, thanks to Vodafone.  Between the poor N97 phone and PC application performance, and Vodafone's inexplicable delay in releasing Nokia's firmware upgrades, I think both Nokia and Vodafone UK will be losing this customer in 2011.  The Apple iPhone may be pricier, but the darn thing works.  And HTC, Samsung and Sony Ericsson are good enough - my wife has no problems with her SE W715.

Answer 1

Hi edmundgall,
As you said there are few of our forum members facing issue in using OVI Suite with Windows 7.  Officially NOS 2.0.1.35 was not compatible with Windows 7, but few customers are saying in our forums, they dont have any issues with Windows 7.  After listening to our forum members like, we expect that NOKIA will start supporting Windows 7 officially from its next Nokia OVI Suite release onwards.  Keep your fingers crossed.  Its not only slowly people will migrate to Windows 7, so it should be in supported Operating System list of NOS 2.0