A home-brewed version of the operating system for the Android-powered and recently announced HTC Hero has been released on the web, according to according to info from Italian website Androidiani. Downloading the approximately 85MB file will allows users of the HTC Magic, Dream, Ion and T-Mobile G1 to unofficially upgrade their phones with Flash support and the updated nicknamed Rosie Sense user interface of the upcoming Hero on their Android handsets.

Some users who have tried it are reporting a much faster navigation experience, though some functions are lost, such as Wi-Fi and the media player. A camera quirk offsets the viewfinder by 90 degrees, though this is apparently fixed by opening and closing the keyboard. The accelerometer is also apparently disabled, as is Bluetooth.

The ROM apparently originated at HTC and was modified to work on the older devices. The creators say they will keep developing this firmware and removing bugs. [via XDA Developers Forum]