iOS 5 is out

After waiting all summer and half of fall, we can finally get the promising iOS Five. I'm downloading it right now (but it's big, will take a time to download and install) (707MB for an update to a handheld-device OS, wow. It couldn't even fit on a CD!).
[Update: the software was not kidding when it said it could take a while. Mine has been working on the update for over an hour now, and shows no sign of being anywhere close to being done. ... Update: I'm only succeeding the day after, and as seen below, apparently a Restore was necessary, though the updater did not inform me of it, and it's taking hours. Just so you know it might. ... Update: OK, done for my iPad. (Seems very nice.) Now I'm updating my iPhone 4, and it's doing a Restore too, so clearly iOS 5 is such a Deep update that a restore is necessary rather than just an an "on top" update.]


I'm interested in several things. The improvements to Safari is long-awaited and very welcome, tabs and Instapaper-like saving and formatting of articles.

Newsstand might be interesting. I'll be interested in seeing how many new publications will be available. Their talk about it was a bit odd: it "collects" the subscriptions you have on your iPad, as if we all have many (I do, but only in Zinio, which I doubt will be in NewsStand), and as if no new ones were added.

Wireless updating is cool, especially if iTunes can do it with podcasts, I haven't seen that mentioned, oddly enough.

iMessage is also long-awaited, why there has not been a good and simple text-messaging system for the iPad from the beginning is a puzzle. After all, the Mac has had iChat for a decade almost.

Swiping between apps might be very handy, faster than calling up the app strip.

Airplay mirroring should be great for gamers and for people making demos or slideshows on iPads.

And the iPhone 4(s) will be more valuable as a camera now that with iOS 5 you can use the volume button as a shutter button, and don't have to get past the lock screen and find the camera app before you can snap a photo.

Update:
My friend Yvonne tells me:
I was just watching the antics of people having download fever on all of the forums...!
There are people who have tried more than 50 downloads, one after the other, and are determined to keep going even though the forum administrators are telling them that apples servers have been " slammed" by the sheer number of attempted downloads on the same day.
I tried only 2, I was getting the same error codes as everyone else, checked the forums and realized the servers are swamped, so gave up for the day...!
I have actually downloaded it, according to the forum administrators advice to people getting error codes... Tomorrow, I have to plug in my iPad and press restore ( on iTunes), and it should load onto the iPad. The error codes are occurring when iTunes contacts apple for software verification, the apple servers cannot handle the volume, and accept only half the volume, and the rest get sent back error codes by the system. 
If you get an error code... Check out the info in this link...