Things I haven't seen mentioned here that really excite me:
NO START UP APPS. At least not stupid ones like Sprint Navigation, Sprint Zone, Sprint TV, Nascar, and all those other crappy stock apps. SOOOOOO glad this is gone!
Another: Less apps run in the background!!! This was one of my biggest pet peeves with my phone. I don't use Facebook (anymore) or Twitter (never have), I'm not a stock broker, I don't use Latitude, and I don't use the Android mail app. So I'm very thrilled that these programs aren't running in the background. I used to see them 24/7 whenever I was in the App Manager. Sometimes I'd see Facebook for Android and Facebook for HTC running side by side. I'd also occasionally see the Android News app even though I never used it and those nasty Sprint apps randomly pop up in my Running Programs list. No matter how many times I'd force close them or tweek their settings, they'd find they're way back. But I haven't seen those all day. The only ones I see there are what look like system processes and widgets that I have running - Yahoo Mail, Power Amp, etc.
ALSO - apps that didn't actually close or end aren't in that listed there anymore after I've formally exited them. The stock Android browser never seemed to fully exit, and neither did Astro. I'd push the back button until the app disappeared from the foreground, but I'd see it still running in the Running Apps list. Now they aren't there and it looks as if they're actually closing.
Bottom line: Gingerbread seems to have taken a big step forward as to how it handles its apps, especially the stock ones from the carrier and manufacturer. I've never been a Task Killer guy, but I'd check that list a lot to make sure my processes and services weren't sucking up my battery or eating up my processor. Unless the newly vamped Application Manager is lying to me, this is an improvement that I'm pumped about and I'm excited to see what it'll do for my battery life. I think it may also have something to do with the already obvious speed of my phone.
Anyone else know where I'm coming from?