[aeneas shrike]

I've just recently become aware of android. This phone is supposed to have what Sprint is calling "Sense" instead of android.

From what I read, it's possibly android but their own customized version...? If this is the case, what does that mean as far as it being non-restrictive. The whole reason I became interested was the idea that an android phone was supposedly not locked down like an iphone for example, and a user didn't have to worry about a carrier gimping the phone. But another site says that is only assured with the "The Google Experience". So what's the deal with this phone? What should I look for as a consumer that tells me it's not gimped?

[Clackamas]

By "Sense" you probably mean "SenseUI" which is a custom UI that HTC developed for the HTC Hero. It is similar to the difference between Windows XP and Vista: both are Windows under the hood but the UI has some differences but you cannot mistake either for being anything other than Windows.

Anyway, the Hero's underlying OS is still Android. Hare the overviews from HTC's web site:



This is the UK version, but you can learn about SenseUI which will likely be the same on the Sprint Version: