I'm new to the whole Vanilla thing and loving it so far. All my phones have been "Sense"
Does putting a Launcher on do anything bad? I remember a friend put a launcer on his original droid and it didn't look that great to me (not as good as stock). But i might not understand it correctly.
I guess is should ask, what do we lose when we put Nova launcher on (if anything)? Do they take over the whole phone like a ROM? or is it just like an upgrade thing?
Sorry for the stupid questions but i like stock because it works best. But maybe a launcher doesn't do what i think (make it a whole new phone like when you put a ROM on).
What does the Launcher replace? maybe thats a better way of asking
To go into a little more detail, some Launchers are better than others. In a sense, it's like installing Windows 7 on your computer, rather than Windows XP. Some options won't be there anymore, but new options are definitely available. Nova Launcher is unique in the fact that it's basically the stock launcher, but with many desirable options added. Most launchers try to go a completely new direction, and that can lead to a lot of choppiness (for lack of a better word) when navigating through the phone. Nova, on the other hand, simply takes the stock launcher and adds the ability to long-press on the homescreen to add widgets and apps. It also allows you to customize icons by changing the image and size, while also being able to alter or delete the icon label. The only thing you really lose is the ability to preview widgets in the app drawer. This option is only available to rooted users. The widgets drawer is now just a list of the various widgets on your device, rather than a little picture of each one. While I wouldn't recommend LauncherPro or ADW to someone who enjoys the stock launcher, I would fully endorse a switch to Nova. It's definitely not like any you've seen before.
Launchers will never damage your device, not really at least, and it just comes down to the fact that some work better than others. If the developer takes the time to update regularly it can be a nice change, but rarely can a developer put as much time and effort in as Google can. So the stock launcher will almost always be better. Unless, of course, the launcher is taken from the stock launch and built in with improvements, like Nova!
Hope this helps! you'll enjoy Nova, trust me!