Gone through that whole thread and still unsure. The opinions on using/not using ATK are divided.
There are basically 3 types of apps AFAIK:
1)Just in memory and not consuming CPU
2)Using CPU actively
3)background services
I'm still yet to understand (3) types. Probably very similar to "services" in Windows computers. I know there are probably good numbers of services that I don't need to run but searching net for few days now without any success.
I never bothered with types (1). If you can confirm that after pressing "back" (exit), they just stay only in memory and not using CPU, then can totally ignore.
Concerned with types (2). On my Hero 2 things always seems to be using CPU- Calender and Settings. If I open settings page and "back" to home, it just continue to use CPU.
For calender I can understand that I've widget on home screen and others like Alarm, mails , messages, call logs etc probably need it to run but settings? Once you done with setting up your phone why continue to use CPU power?
Using TaskKiller. Definitely need a guide about services and what they do. What can be safely disabled depending on user preferences and which are essentials. As for external apps that user downloaded and using, just a matter of taste.
As for example when I run Dolphin browser and back to home page, it stays as background service. Re-pening is instant but even if I close it, it only takes another about 5 seconds to start browsing. I can live with that delay unless someone can clearly explain with benchmarks that freeing up extra RAM is not worth. At the moment though, I don't see a need to keep browser as background service.