Hey, and welcome to the PSP world! What you see here is a PORTAL, not an OS, per say. If your PSP has 2.0 and above firmware, there is a browser built in to the firmware, which lets you view webpages. A portal is an HTML (browser-based) "OS" that looks and acts like a real, full-scale operating system, when it is in fact, a group of webpages linked together to create an OS-like enviornment. The X5 portal is pretty much one of the best portals on the web right now (I'm sure many people can attest to that), and it offers many small-scale functions that a real OS could do.

However, the screenshot you see is NOT of an OS, so don't plan to do any word processing or anything along those lines.

The PSP is a GREAT video playing tool, it has a crisp screen, and has a plethora of tools and websites available (such as this site, which under the old domain name, was a PURE media content website with tons of videos and downloads) which make transferring videos, music, pictures, and more, a dream.

Upgrading is a simple process, done by executing a Sony approved "EBOOT" file which takes you step-by-step through upgrading the unit. However, if you upgrade beyond firmware version 2.0, there is NO way to go back down to version 1.5 firmware, which is the one which supports homebrew applications.

Downgrading is done by a exploit in the 2.0 firmware, and is somewhat of a complicated process, but once you experience the process, it will become easy to do on-the-fly.

The PSP does not have a built-in hard drive, memory cards are the only main form of storing information (however, just a week ago, a external 4GB hard drive by Datel was released which connects to the PSP, it retails for about $199).

If I didn't answer all your questions or you have more, feel free to ask, it's always great to help out new ones to the PSP world.

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