The Today screen is the most used part of a phone. On the iPhone, it's all your applications. On Android, it's a sea of widgets, icons, and utilities. On Windows Mobile, the default Today screen is rarely ever seen. In fact, I can barely remember what I looks like from my old 8525...

Believe it or not, this same core Today screen is still embedded into Windows Mobile. OEMs and developers, however, have done what they can to completely revamp it. The most popular of the redesigns is HTC Sense, used on the HTC HD2. There are also several others, including SPB Mobile Shell or the Titanium interface.

Returning to Co0kie's Home Tab, this is a mod developed by the well-known XDA Developers member Co0kieMonster, which completely revamps the HTC Sense experience. In fact, if you run a custom rom, chances are you already have CHT cooked in. Yesterday, CHT 2.0.0 public beta was released, introducing several new features:

- left/right sliding pages confgurable from 1 to 7 pages (separately configurable for portrait, landscape and lockscreen)
- redesidned softkey area, bottom menu and tab slider (tap and hold the slider button, don't just tap and release)
- quick links can be configured in any row by column layout
- new links that are can be freely moved anywhere on the screen (free links - add from popup menu)
- free links have a slide-to-launch feature on the lockscreen
- more widgets: email, sms, RSS, weather, clocks (digital, flip and analog)
- addon widget framework: widgets can be made by anyone and installed as an addon cab
- widgets can be pinned into place and some can be freely resized

Here's a before and after on our HTC HD2, running Elegancia ROM:

Before

After

Let's dig through the most noticeable of the changes, one by one:

The Home Tab

The home tab, the default screen normally displaying a clock and a few icons, has been completely redesigned. The softkeys have been replaced with a link to the start menu, a link to the dialer, a slide-up menu with all your scrolling tabs, a settings button, and a lock button.

The biggest improvement on the home screen is the support for horizontal pages. 

Vertical scrolling is also still enabled, of course. These separate pages are customizable with widgets, rows of icons, indicators, and "Free links".

Widgets

CHT 2.0.0 comes with many more widgets than previous versions, including new ones for email, SMS, and additional downloadable ones such as RSS, available here.

The SMS and email widgets work much like the separate tabs. However, we had some issues getting the SMS tab to update upon new message, but then again, it is a beta.

Icons

CHT 2.0 allows you to pin virtually anything as a quick link. These links can also be placed anywhere on the screen as a "Free Link". You can pin programs, contacts, websites, status indicators, toggle switches, links to tabs, you name it:

You can have several pages of these icons, as well as several vertical screens. Long story short, you'll have plenty of room for all your apps, contacts, websites, and then some.

Wrap Up

If you're a fan of the Android-style homescreen, with a horizontal-based scrolling system and the ability to pin anything you want, CHT 2.0.0 is definitely for you. While there were some issues, this is a beta, and I'm sure once it is cooked into roms, it will be the sleekest homescreen your HTC HD2 will ever see.

If you want to try it out early, read the instructions and grab the beta from the thread here.

[Via: XDA-Developers]