AMEN
@Murg: Nice and concise about how I've been feeling. I don't know about others but I've asked to be in the beta. Didn't even get a "Thanks for asking but we currently have all the beta testers we need." Just silence. I know I've been pretty vocal about my feelings on the 2.0 firmware release but when I am forced to upgrade and the upgrade is woefully lacking (buggy) and containing features that I not only dislike but hate and there are no features added that I like... on top of the feeling that none of us were expecting to be beta testers without agreeing to beta test... what can they expect.
@Kobo: get a public beta test going. You get proper and more rounded out beta testing. The 2.0 should not have been released to the public the way it was regardless of the release in Japan. Sleep/Off mode displaying wrong covers, slow epub page turns, firmware the just won't install on some devices, crappy looking sideloaded fonts... Better to have stuck with 1.9.17 than to have had so many unhappy people. Fix bugs, let the public beta test, fix bugs, rinse repeat until the beta testers are happy... release. Add new features, beta test, fix bugs.... you get the idea.
Most of the worst software and games are the ones that were rushed out the door with known bugs, just to get them out the door and start making money. "We'll fix the bugs later after release."... really great way to lose customers. By the time the bugs are fixed no one cares because the customers have moved on to other things. Sure you have their money now but they most likely won't buy from you again.