Cool Fast & stable: CM9 SDE ROM for our Rachael
Greetings!

I'm not a developer, in fact I'm a semi-noob and (quite) new to XDA (for under two years). This is my first post - and I'd like to help other X10 users with some friendly and -of course- helpful advices.

After trying/using a bunch of custom ROMs available for Rachael, I currently use Achotjan's amazing SDE CM9 ROM. It's the best for my use right now, offering good performance and original Sony interface. Before, I also tested Vasishta Reddy's ICS 005 ROM, but (despite it's 'final') it felt quite slow(er), unstable and...well, without many Sony apps, like Conversation, Gallery/Album etc.

Anyway, I don't want to review any other ROM right now. The thing is simple: Achotjan's SDE is, for me, almost perfect. 'Beta'? Not quite.
I use Ferakernel V6 with JB Adreno drivers - and my X10 is fast and very stable: no WLOD, no random reboots, 'gingerbready' (CM7) feel. My current CPU setting is Smartass V2 [I don't know the difference between this and InteractiveX] at 384 -1113 MHz. Why? Because with 1190, many apps seem to crash/not respond/not open. zRam at 18% (not very sure it helps), surface dithering OFF, 16bit transparency ON, GPU rendering OFF (again, not sure, but Temple Run 2 works fine without it), screen animations OFF (or 0.5 max)

Nota bene: all the Sony framework (including Sony ICS slide lockscreen with notifications and Walkman controls) and app collection are in this ROM (if you think there are too many - you can easily disable or uninstall system apps with Root App Delete.) As a bonus, the original Xperia Z locker can be ported - and it works perfectly.

And now... BUGS. Excluding the CM9 classic and -hope so- temporary ones, you may find some more. Chillax, nothing big.
The LED is not showing very long that you have a notification (and when charging - it also dissapears the red/yellow/green, afterwards).
The notifications itselves don't remain in the bar (they can disappear after a couple of seconds. Luckily, the notification count in icons remains.)
For me it's kinda frustrating when I'm trying to open a system app - and I must wait 1-5 seconds before it displays the content (e.g. Settings, Calls) In this case, GB and even JB ROMs are faster.
I can't remember anything else right now...
TIP: After any changes made - Fix Permissions in CWM. It might help preventing crashes and unwanted reboots.

Well... That's all, folks. If you have any kind of questions - ask me. About apps, tweaks, settings, anything. Including info about other X10 ROMs.
One more thing: I just want to thank the developers for making Rachael a better, faster...newer phone!
All the best!

Weekender