The Sidekick runs with an updated version of the old Sidekick OS. Aesthetically, it isn't the prettiest operating system and if you have bad eyesight, you might have trouble reading some of the typography (I guess they assume young people have perfect eyes).

Samsung included some nice customization features in the OS. For example, you can pick from a couple of different themes for homescreen and menus. You can also customize the LED notification light. Under Settings, you can assign a different color to flash when you receive a new text or e-mail, or when you miss a call.

Both the Lock screen and the Jump key can be customized with shortcuts, so you can quickly access whatever apps and programs you need. All of this is easily done via the settings menu.

The Sidekick 4G comes loaded with two messaging features, Group Text and Cloud Text. Group Text lets you create, name, manage and participate in reply-all group text messages. Cloud Text lets you message your friends or groups from multiple platforms--including PCs. Unfortunately we couldn't test Cloud Text, as it won't be live until the Sidekick is commercially available (April 20).