Gawwwd, there's so many of these launchers! I still haven't tried Zeam or GoLauncher. I would like to, as they seem to be popular, but I have a couple hundred apps, and my stomach lurches at the thought of all the time I have spent searching the Market for one that doesn't suck, and the hours I spent setting each up before eventually getting news that there are better ones available. For example, the Market last year was saturated with OpenHome, but nobody talks about that one now. For all the themes they wanted to sell you, it lacked the functionality.
Other homescreen apps I've tried:
Panda Home - I thought it was a neat idea the developer of this one had, to provide hideable space for extra apps in the corners of each screen.
Unfortunately, this app did not run stable on my phone.
DxTop: This is strictly for those who like the five-screen cube layout.
It is particularly cool in that it has three dockbars (one with a task killer, not for much use now), and the other is completely open for up to five apps.
What kept me using DxTop longer than I otherwise would have is that moving an app between screen and the dockbar, and then back again, is as simple as moving an app anywhere on the screen. It also didn't fight me in any way with my Tasker widgets (they are called widgets, but on your screen they are simple as any app shortcut). With other homescreens which I've tried, the process of setting these Tasker functions (to produce space-saving menus and reduce scolling) on the dockbar has to be more roundabout.
The drawback is the awful, outdated cube design, which had just enough lag to make it twice as annoying.
ADW: Has a very nice app management system. Once you have an app icon on your screen, a long-press of it gives you these options: Remove (the app from your screen), Details (takes you to the Android AppManage detail for the app in question), Edit (change the icon, or install a different app in it's place), and Uninstall (somewhat dangerous, but I love this when I am testing the Market offerings and want to remove the bad ones quick). Installing, removing, or modifying anything is greatly simplified by this feature.
Not least among ADW advantages is that it's 100% free!
ADW also permits up to seven screens, and the scrolling isn't too laggy, although HTC Sense scrolls much smoother.
A drawback is that you can have only one dockbar, where others offer three.
Another problem is that it takes forever for my list of apps to come up when I want to place one on my screen. I don't need more reasons to hate HTC Sense, but it does work fast. ADW lags even more than out-dated DxTop!
LauncherPro: Seemed a lot like ADW to me at first (some of the same UI elements anyway), but with lots (of value which opinions will vary on) added.
LauncherPro adds it's own widgets. I only explored a couple of them, but didn't find them of much use to me as I had already gone to much length with my Tasker widgets, which suit my needs better. But for the new user, or the instant gratification crowd, I suppose they are reasons why this app is so popular.
Another certain popularity factor is that LauncherPro offers not 3 to 5, but up to 15 apps in three dockbars.
All that aside, Launcher Pro is even more laggy than ADW for scrolling, every bit as slow to call up your apps list, and just a graceless PIA to get anything done with.
Long-press an app icon on this homescreen and you get only one option, and it's an in-your-face nag to go pay for it first. No, you cannot remove it this way, nor can you go to the management interface and stop it from running (or manage the default status), nor can you change the icon so easily from here, nor uninstall without a headache. You can only (if you pay $6 dollars for it) increase the buffer area around the icon, and even if it's a widget this "feature" won't do any more than that for you. I forked over the money out of curiosity, so I know. This is the only extra that you get for buying the pro version, and I find it's usefulness a bit underwhelming.
Apps (and menu buttons created in Tasker) don't move nearly as gracefully between the homescreen the dockbars of Launcher Pro either.
As I have no use for LauncherPro's one-size-fits-all widgets, and can't stand their dull icons anyway, the only feature which I'm impressed with is the three dockbars. This alone does not make up for the lag, the horribly re-invented (for inefficiency) UI, and the same very ugly screen which brings up your app list (after the better part of a minute on Droid Incredible) as ADW.
Live Home - I love this app! The screens scroll every bit as smoothly as they do in HTC Sense, no lag at all. You get the same long-press features as ADW, so app management is easy, you can lock your screen so that nothing is changed by accident, you get up to 7 screens, scrolling effects which don't slow it down, and three dockbars launchers. You get lots more features as well, and never a nag to buy anything unless you go through the more fancy customization settings which are hidden deep within the Live Home menu. Everything worth paying for (in my practical opinion) is free, and you only see ads when in the Live Home menu.
The drawbacks? I'm not truly aware of any. Even the ads in the Live Home menu aren't big enough to get in the way, so they would only matter if your service provider really squeezes you on data usage. It doesn't lag at all, although sometimes the display will get sort of wacky, causing the need to reboot Live Home. As this doesn't affect my running apps, it's not high on my list of bothers.
