Originally Posted by
cblaisd
Is this similar to jailbreaking an IOS device and then getting apps from Cydia?
It's far more than that. Jailbreaking just allows IOS devices to leave the walled garden but you're still using the vanilla iOS flavour. Rooting allows you access to the OS itself and change the ROM (kind of like installing Linux over Windows). While the ROM itself is still an Android ROM, the customizations out there allow for an entirely different and vastly more powerful experience.
Part of what I've figured out is that Lenovo's own customization (with it's carousel thingy and ugly launcher app) was making it more difficult to understand the OS interface.
I don't doubt it. The stock ROMS I've tried from HTC and Motorola are horrendous. I can't imagine Lenovo doing a better job.
However, one thing I haven't played with is trying to enlarge icon sizes. While launchers allow some customization of the size, I haven't even checked whether stock icons can be enlarged.