in regard to using 3rd party launchers like Nova, I read that they have less lag and all that due to them not being as bogged down as sense. when using one, does the sense launcher just get stored as a file or something?? is it just a bigger all around size than say the nova launcher and is that why the latter is speedier and more fluid etc??? if rooted, can one simply delete the sense launcher like an app or something to gain more space on ram or whatever it's called that the oem launcher takes up space on??? TIA
The answer requires a quick look at Sense itself.
Many people think of Sense as the launcher, maybe also the HTC widgets that only work with it.
Sense is that (launcher and unique widgets) and also a set of HTC apps that all communicate with each other, in obvious and non-obvious ways.
ICS validates the Sense approach by including many of the app connections that Sense had, but Android never did.
Think of it as people centric now - just as Sense tied People to SMS, Mail, etc, ICS does much of that now.
HTC announced that they were lightening up Sense in response to user complaints - and maybe that's true, maybe it was just marketing - because it made sense to lighten Sense to not duplicate what ICS wants to do under the hood now.
So - your questions:
First - the launcher. Some say the new Sense is so fast, replacing it will be a matter of choice. As always, that will be the target of fun, lively discussions, regardless of the version of Sense.
The Sense launcher (named Rosie) is just an app (an apk file) like most everything else in Android. Just like when you choose a new default browser and the old one stays dormant in storage - Rosie will become dormant while you use your new one.
Second - deleting Sense components. Honestly, this is usually a bad idea. System apps like to talk to each other. If you decide to make a piece of Sense dormant, and another app tries to talk to it, that app gets a signal that basically says, go away, I'm dormant, and the app carries on.
If you delete the dormant Sense component, the calling app gets no answer. So it calls again. And again. And again. Repeatedly. Wasting time, cpu, and power until it times out - and then starts in again. This will cause you to delete that app and replace it, and the problem will shift to a new component.
That will lead you to think that all of Sense is buggy, bloated and broken. And that's what people believe - to the point of thinking that Sense is worthless and can't be salvaged.
What to do. If you like other launchers and find the experience preferable, then strongly consider installing a Sense-less rom. In those, a good rom dev will not only remove Sense, but ensure that the apps are cleaned up to not wait wastefully for replies from Sense that will never come.
Does Sense come with a cpu price? Sure. All apps do. Maybe the apps you'll choose will come with less of a cpu price, maybe more. The general target for pure Android is less of a cpu price. I've noticed that with each version of Sense from 1 to 2 to 3, the cpu price seems to have gone down. They promise the same for Sense 4. But pure Android, with fewer processes, will run faster.
However - on a dual core Krait, I think we have yet to see how noticeable all that is.
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Is root required? No.
Just as you can use Handcent for SMS or Boat Browser as your defaults on any HTC without root, you can try different launchers, dialers, and contacts (People) apps without root.
Is Sense better? You tell me. I'm a Sense lover, and no matter what I promise myself, my screens fill with widgets, shortcuts and goodies. Then I look at my son's Samsung, configured super minimally and incredibly clean - and every time I hand him my phone back, I think often that maybe I'm just doing Android wrong.
A clean layout is mighty nice, too.
Probably missed a good part of your questions, but I hope this helps.
