[somerandomguy]

1) Why is this OS considered official if its present on a Carrier's website but not on the official BlackBerry website where they have all continents' carriers listed?

- could be that BB hasnt updated their site / listing yet. its up to each carrier to test the build and see if its suitable for use.

2) I had used .979 also and upgraded to .1014. But I have experienced issues with it - data leak and it is running my bill high and hence bothering me.

- a data leak? can you explain this and how you know it to be true. apps wont use any more / less data then they already do. 4square v1.1.19 will use the same amount of data with the same use on any OS build.

- the OS shouldn't vary its data useage too much either.

3) I learned from the official website that when the letter "J" is present at the beginning of the firmware name (e.g. 9700jEastAsia.. etc) it takes up an additional of approx. 5 MB space irrespective of whether you choose Japanese input or not. So is there a non "J" version of 5.0.0.1014?

- who cares? just remove the languages and stuff you dont need. i remove ALL the apps and featuers i dont need and back when i was using os 5, i had 75+ mb of free memory *after* i had installed all my apps and the OS.

4) Lastly can anyone advise me between .979 and .1014? I did not have any noticeable issues on .979. But since I moved to .1014 I've had data leaks. I only use my 9700 for e-mail and only add-on / third party apps are one THEME From app world and Google Talk & Yahoo Messenger. That's it. So for my use, does .1014 have a significant benefit, else I might just go back to .979

OS 5 will continue to see releases for quite some time (at least 6 months). I'd give os6 a try to see if you like it. I love the new browser and the refreshed look. there are many things that RIM has improved on that i find my self missing every time i use an os 5 device.