some personal observation (compiled) after 24hrs of use (stock and non-rooted). new items in RED.:
installation:
* need to install via KIES. no OTA yet.
* the update % may slow down at certain times...
* does not wipe your data... but still, never know... can happen. so backup first.
* apps drawer arrangement all gone... have to re-arrange again.

after installation
* cannot disable shutter sound in camera apps
* new swype is nice -- but copy/ select all now requires use of shortcut keys
* seems to take up more RAM -- i know RAM should be used. previously, my RAM usage hovers around 500+... now 600+.
* nothing major. not sure if its just me... but i noticed i get more hang applications today after the update. will probably restart the phone again and see how.
* now got S Memo and S Note... haiz... can't Samsung integrate nicely... now i got two similar apps?!?
* new gmail client -- not so easy to switch between accounts... i guess need to get used to this new interface
* lots of interface change with Google applications, in fact... not just the GMail i mentioned. Reader, etc... all also got some changes.
* Reader Hub still sucks. The ebook reader... still dun have the dark/ night option... previously used to have.
* stock browser seems much faster...
* no new live wallpaper
* i guess i can now uninstall 3G watchdog... ICS has got its own Data Usage meter.
* battery meter can also show % now... yea!
* camera apps... when you launch... you have that annoying TIPS that might not go off... what i did was to try using the S PEN to check "do not show again" and then OK. sometimes might not work. when that happens, use task manager to kill task and try again.
* nice that there's now some guidelines on folders. i see more apps putting photos (within individual folders) into one common folder called Pictures.
* Screencaptures and now called Screenshots. new folders... new locations... new naming convention for the files. Samsung should not change format with each revision la... *sigh*
* battery seems to drain faster. unplugged from wall about 630am. drove to PJ. in between, it was some twitter and reader updates, 5 mins gaming... by about 740am... 90% battery left...
* keyboard hangs... on several occasions, i can't swype anything. had to go to settings and change keyboard before it worked again. not sure if its swype issue or generally the input/ keyboard integration issue.
* TouchWiz actually hung on me about 2-3 times already. basically homescreen will just freeze. can't swipe to other screens... HOME button will light up the screen. i can put phone display to sleep but after unlock (using pattern lock) and HOME screen is showing, it just won't respond. had to restart phone.

seriously, i'm beginning to regret my hastiness with this ICS upgrade. i think i should have held off since this is not OTA and basically that meant, voluntary (and self inflicted)...

major issues i have this this ICS...
* battery drain... unplugged from PC for lunch. phone had 85%. only did like reply to 3-4 IM messages and trying to login to LYN forum. all in, less than 5 mins of 3G data time. i do have like 5 GMail accounts, RSS Reader and Twitter but they dun sync that often. less than 10mins, 3% gone. by the time i got back from lunch about 1 hour later, 66% left. that's like almost 20% gone!

* unstable -- just this morning itself... had to restart phone once and shut down the phone 3-4 times. that's not including the restart during flashing. the phone either just hang (launcher issue?!?) or just got too hot. like just now during lunch... phone temp was hovering at 40C with TaskManager showing 0 tasks running. restart did not work (the one time i mentioned earlier). ended up having to shut down the phone. that 40C was over the one hour when i was having lunch... i tot i'd try to let it cool down but it didn't...

all the above in just my first 24hrs with ICS. i'd NOT recommend this to any casual user like myself (casual as in not into rooting/ modding the phone). i'd honestly prefer GB as i'm used to the quirks and have found workarounds. but in ICS's case... they are quite serious -- to the point i need to shut down the phone, etc...

so, is it recommended for stock GB users to update to stock ICS now?

i read a lot of complains but not sure whether they are comparing it to stock GB or custom roms.

but judging from his comments about battery drain and heat issue. could it be some incompatible or problematic apps that are hogging the processor at the background, causing the battery drain and heat issue?

i had some of your problems, and the major thing to me, is the touchpal keyboard cannot work properly in potrait. the size too small.

surfing with wifi is 41 degree, if charging + wifi = 51 degree.

enable the go launcher effect will make my ram go less than 100 mb free. and then unable to surf net and had to restart.

 

this ics is really......not good enough

i agreed too..so far ok lah the ICS..better than nothing 

Malaysia ICS is pretty good. Battery 100% 8AM this morning, til now it still shows at 82 with average use.

Hi,

I am looking for alumnium battery cover gold color for my note. Got any idea where i can get it here in penang?¤

18 hours 20 minutes since last charged.. Now 47%

facebook always on, sometimes check, 3 or 4 times play Draw Something, check all ICS function (contact, browser, setting, etc)

Is it good? Drained 53% in 18h20m

really? stock ICS is good then 

Im not having good battery life on stock ics recently.. its draining my battery even if im not doing anything and just leave it thr..not sure wad app is running in background though..

Thx bro.

Too bad just rebooted my phone..
I have both of the apps in my phone dy.. just rebooted..

go to Play Store, download Apex Launcher... it's much more smoother and lighter compare to stock launcher... this could help you save battery (use less RAM) and give you better feature 

guys, im very noob user here, i want to ask, what is ICS? and can i update my ICS after i root my phone? thank you.

To be franked 24 hours with 37% left...

apex launcher do have folder... a lot of features... give it a try bro 

apex launcher do have folder... a lot of features... give it a try bro 

did I said everyone? i said most la...bro... or maybe is you came from another battery draining rom... so u cant differentiate the battery drain...

if u think 2 hours display on with 3G on + gmail sync is very impressive ... then u mz c this

bear in mind... this is 3G on 24/7(NO WIFI AT ALL), sync every hour... with tons of widget(frankly I jz like widgets  ) if nt mistaken I still left 10%
what say u now?

What does Juice Defender do anyway?

anyone wants to share on your setting for Juice Defender??

soo u don't use JD to control ur mobile data & wifi?..soo that means u will on or off ur wifi manually??..or that is have another ways?

I faced that yesterday as well bro...decided not to do full wipe and also stayed away from Abyssnote 4.2... somehow my Note dislikes it...lolz....