Captivate Update

I just looked at AT&T's recommended update process for the Samsung Captivate. First, let's get the obvious out of the way: the update takes the Captivate, a phone less than a year old, from Android 2.1 to 2.2. The latest stable version for phones is 2.3, so this update doesn't really bring the phone "up to date", but let's get back to the main problem.

Android has a built-in over-the-air update process. Go to Settings→About phone→System software updates. It's simple, direct, and no PC is required. Alas, this system is disabled on the Captivate. Instead the update process is as difficult as rooting your phone. Not only is the method Windows only, it requires 32 bit Windows! Worse, users are directed to disable firewalls and anti-virus software.

Um, no thank you. Unless you have a Nexus phone, it seems that the best way to get timely updates for your Android phone is to root it, and depend on the developer community.