Rooted!

Ok so I strapped a pair on and pressed the button in the Universal Androot app. It did some stuff and now I'm rooted.

And how did I celebrate my new found rootage? Titanium Backup and Clockwork Rom Manager!

Titanium Backup

One of the great things about Universal Androot is that you don't have to screw with your bootloader. No bootloader messing, no warranty inflingment and no phone reset and no need to reinstall all your data!!!

Once rooted I was able to backup all my apps and data and settings using Titanium. Rooting the old way would have wiped my phone and was one of the main reasons I resisted it previously.

I haven't used Titanium in anger yet, I've only backed stuff up but this seems to work well and the options and settings it backed up seemed comprehensive. It even backed up, my bluetooth pairings (I had a 'mare getting my Parrot to work) and links to the Android Market place so if I have to restore in the future market place updates will work.

There is a pro version that allows you to do a number of things including a one click restore of all your apps and settings, for when you've got a new phone or installed a new rom for instance.

Clockwork Rom Manager

This app is a must if you are going to flash your phone with a new rom as it takes all the hard work out of it. It will download the ROMs and flash for you, install a custom recovery ROM, and even do a totall backup of you ROM. By doing this you can install a new ROM, test it, and be back in your original ROM with all your settings intact in 30 mins.

Ok so I'm not using this to it's full potential yet, I've only used it to change my Recovery Image to Clockwork Recovery and to do a total backup of my phone. When CyanogenMod 6 is finalised I'll be flashing that, but I can wait....