Insp Gadget, thanks so much for your reply. So much more insightful answer than I have been receiving. I guess I'm gonna have to live with JB. I came from Blackberry Bold and really miss some of it's features, then I finally got used to ICS, and then it changed to JB and l lost more features that I had learned to like. Too many changes for this old lady!
It's not that I hate JB per se, it's the Google Now that's driving me crazy popping up all the time, no speed dial, Docs to Go not working properly anymore, general lagginess, etc.
Will I always have to keep upgrading when Google puts out a new version??
Again, thanks so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can appreciate your frustration with regard to the differences between Android and Blackberry. Also, the relatively rapid advancement/upgrades within the Android ecosystem can make keeping up with the changes a bit daunting as well. I've never used a RAZR MAXX HD, so I can't comment on how easy or hard it is to accidentally activate Google Now on that device. I've never had that happen on my Galaxy Nexus. You could try running an alternative launcher. Perhaps that will allow you to alter the launching shortcut to Google Now.
I am curious as to which features you lost when moving from ICS to JB. Perhaps the community can point out some helpful alternatives or show you how to access those features under JB. The nice thing about Android is that whatever feature you might have grown attached to under a particular version of Android (or Motoblur, in the case of Motorola devices), there is usually a way to obtain a (usually enhanced) version of that feature via a 3rd-party app from the Google Play store, at no or minimal cost.
As for Docs to Go, I abandoned that product the moment it was purchased by Research In Motion (Blackberry) because I knew it wouldn't receive the proper support for Android and other platforms once RIM got their hands on it. Tech companies often buy products with the sole intention of burying the acquired product for competitive reasons. I can't say for sure that this was Blackberry's motive in acquiring DTG, but...well, the state of the app speaks louder than I possibly could. Fortunately, there are other (and some think better) office apps available for Android.
When Google puts out a new version of Android, there are several things that could potentially require some changes in the way you have to interact with your phone. Keep in mind, however, that if you are using anything but a "pure Android" device (i.e. a Nexus or a device with a plain vanilla image of Android), that the changes you experience may not even be a result of Google's changes as much as they are changes that Motorola may have implemented. The original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) often make significant changes to the user interface and features after Google releases an Android update. The OEM's customizations to Android (i.e. HTC's Sense, Samsung's TouchWiz, and Motorola's Motoblur) do provide some extra and value-added features, but they also slow down the update process for their respective phones, and add a layer of complexity when determining the cause of a problem. It's often hard for people that haven't used plain vanilla Android to know which features were added by their OEM versus what was added by Google. Regardless, the OS updates are a "necessary evil" in the advancement of the platform.
Keep in mind, too, that the RAZR MAXX HD is only running Android Jellybean 4.1.1. There are significant improvements in Android Jellybean 4.2.2. Whether the RAZR MAXX HD ever sees an official update to 4.2.2 is anyone's guess. (Again, a result of OEM customization and carrier delays.) Of course, the great thing about Android is that if you don't like something, you can often change it... if you're willing to go far enough.
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