Whats to special about....

[Sting23ray]

Hi Guys...
I'm new to this Android world so please help me understand it a little better. I want to know whats this big issue with Motorola locking the bootloaders on their devices? I mean what does unlocking do for you? Yet, I hear people root Motorola devices, so what additional benefits do you get from unlocking a boot loader?

Also, what is cyanogenmod?

Thanks for the help guys

 

[mclarryjr]

Bootloader is what loads up the operating system and by locking means that we need to present certificate when you want to load a ROM or kernel. You will be able to root and flash ROM but you would be limited, you wouldn't be able to flash MIUI or CyanogenMod.


Click here for more info on bootloaders

CyanogenMod = CyanogenMod - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

In a nutshell: "rooting" refers to gaining "root" access to an android device. This would be similar to having Administrator account access on a Windows system. Without root, there are certain aspects of the operating system that you cannot access. By gaining root, you can then install certain apps that allow you perform specific functions, that you could not do otherwise.

Unlocking the bootloader is what gives you the ability to install custom ROMs.

These two things usually go hand-in-hand, but they are quite different.