The HTC Desire can now enjoy a more stable and more up-to-date version of Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), thanks to XDA Developers member pratheek1992 who ported the ICS-based Milestone 6 build of the official AOKP custom ROM to the HTC Desire.

The said port includes the Samsung Galaxy S3 TouchWiz launcher, among other things.  A long list of changes have been made to AOKP Milestone 6 since the previous Milestone 5.  Among the changes are the removal of Facebook sync and the addition of useful custom features such as ROM Control, AOKP wallpapers, USB tether toggle, clock widgets, boot animation, and many more.

The developer has also made the ROM more stable, lighter, and faster.  Some bloatware has also been removed, and new hardware acceleration libraries have been added to make the ROM perform better.

This guide shows you how to flash ICS-based AOKP Milestone 6 for the HTC Desire.

Warning

• The instructions in this guide are intended for use with the HTC Desire. Applying these instructions on another device or model may produce undesired outcomes.
• The information in this guide is provided for instructional and educational purposes only. There is no guarantee that these instructions will work under your specific and unique circumstances.
• Use these instructions at your own risk. We shall not hold any responsibility or liability for whatever happens to you or your device arising from your use of the info in this guide.
• Read and understand the whole guide first before actually performing the instructions.

Requirements

• HTC Desire with stock HBOOT/bootloader and with ClockworkMod Recovery installed
  • See our guide on how to flash ClockworkMod Touch Recovery for the HTC Desire.
• Download the following:
  • AOKP Milestone 6 (version 2) custom ROM for HTC Desire (aokp_milestone-6_bravo_v2.zip, 101.74 MB)
  • Google Apps for Ice Cream Sandwich (gapps-ics-20120429-signed.zip, 49.6 MB)
• Make sure your device's battery still has at least 70% power. You don't want the device to shut down in the middle of the procedure.
• Backup all personal data on your phone to make sure you have a copy of your personal data (e.g., contacts, SMS, MMS, Internet settings, Wi-Fi passwords, and the like) in case the procedure in this guide erases such data.
  • For backup tips, check our guides on how to sync your data to the cloud and how to create local backups of your mobile data.

Instructions

1. Copy the ROM package and Google Apps package to your phone's internal SD card.
2. Turn off the phone.
3. Boot into ClockworkMod Recovery. To do so, hold down the Volume Down and Power button until the device boots to the bootloader/HBOOT mode. Use the Volume keys to highlight the RECOVERY option and use the Power button to select it.
4. Create a NANDroid backup of your existing ROM. To do so, select Backup and Restore. On the next screen, select Backup again.
5. Go back to main recovery menu after backup is complete.
6. Select Wipe data/Factory reset and confirm the action on the next screen.
7. Select Install ZIP from SD card > Choose ZIP from SD card.  Select the ROM's ZIP file and confirm that you want to install it.
8. Repeat step 7 and install the Google Apps package in the same manner.
9. Select Reboot system now to restart your phone into the new ROM.

Nice! Your HTC Desire should now be running AOKP Milestone 6 custom ROM.