gdgt

YES!!!!
I just loaded the unofficial, official Sprint 2.1 rom and it is very snappy. It seems like less is running in the background. The whether animation now shows up on the home screen (not just up by the clock, but over the entire screen), it's currently raining here and the wiper just wiped the home screen and there are rain drops showing up over my icons.
The upgrade does wipe the phone but the good news is, when I opened the market and went to downloads, all my apps where listed and ready for download. And as soon as I logged into Google all my contacts (including the pictures) were back in and my calender was loaded all from Google.
The rom is available at (from your PC): www.4shared.com­/file­/gfPzbRcS­/RUU­_Hero­_C­_Sprint­_22...
it was really easy as it did everything from the PC.
Someone has a YouTube video up of the upgrade process:
www.youtube.com­/user­/droiddog­#p­/u­/3­/0AOgTuQFB0o

I've been bouncing back and forth between Fresh 1.1 with the Gumbo kernel (a custom 1.5 ROM) and various 2.1 ROMs (including the latest leak) and Fresh 1.1 is considerably faster for me for some reason. Swiping between home screens on 2.1-based ROMs tends to lag or catch a little bit, but is buttery smooth on Fresh 1.1, and apps and the keyboard seem to perform better as well.

I haven't had stock 1.5 on my phone for a while so I can't directly compare its speed to the new 2.1 leak, but I remember that the reason I rooted and went to Fresh 1.1 in the first place was that I was a little frustrated with the phone's performance. The 2.1 ROMs I've tried aren't *frustratingly* slow so 2.1 may actually be faster than stock 1.5. It's just not quite as fast as Fresh 1.1, so for now that's what I'm sticking with.

Well, they just released the Wildfire. I happen to like what that rom features, they should just give it to the Hero...if not I'll put it on the hero. They're also closing in on 2.2, which would be a better idea. Really, all HTC would need is to add the new kernel, test for functionality with sense ui components and release. I am thinking about doing this to my hero soon. I am really close to trying to find a version of Wildfire's rom. Mainly for one feature, the one where you can view all home screens at once is my favorite.

Thanks for all the replies guys. I'm planning on getting the Hero for my bro and since it looks like 2.1 is a pretty nice update and it's currently 30 dollars at Best Buy, I say it's a go!

So, has anyone found any substantial proof of when we can expect the update to 2.1? Or preferably 2.2? Also, does anyone know a way to get that screen switcher before any updates?