Since no one said anything on your thread I will just take a stab at it. I often listen to the Leo Laporte podcast and he recommends people head over to:
The world’s best source for computing news, reviews, editorials guides, and more.
www.xda-developers.com
From my memory, he has said that you can jailbreak your phone so that you can load any compatible version of the Android operating system and any custom loader you want. This might extend the life of your handset.