My initial thoughts about ICS were of concern: concern that it wouldn't offer enough that was new in order to entice new users and encourage existing users to stay.

Those initial thoughts were based on the media coverage surrounding the launch but after installing a custom, alpha ROM on my trusty old HTC Desire I have had the chance to see if they were correct.

I'm sorry to say that my initial fears are confirmed.

The emperors new clothes

Using ICS feels like using Android with a new skin. Some may say that is good as it means you are instantly familiar with the system despite the redesign and any changes. Others will argue that this creates a problem, I fall into this latter group.

I like new look to the GMail app and the updated browser but that isn't enough. ICS is portrayed as having a more consistent UI but individual core apps differ significantly - never mid thirs party apps.

I remarked upon the similarity with Windows Phone 7 in places but we all know that I mean the new People application. I'm sure there have been more inconsistent UIs but, right now, I can't think of one.

For every positive there is a negative; the visual multitasking with swipe to close apps is very nice but why does Android still not have smart dialing?

A sideways scrolling app dock where apps and widgets are separate is just a bit of polish. Resizable widgets has been in third party launchers for ages. Drag and drop to create folders is direct from iOS.

Sorry Google but this just doesn't do it for me.