How to upgrade HTC Hero to Android 2.1 (Orange UK contract phone)

Like most of HTC Hero users, I was keen on getting an update on my Orange HTC Hero phone. But I was disappointed when I came to know it won’t be released until Orange releases their version of the firmware. I have spent days looking at breaking this. Below is the way I achieved it

1. Call Orange on 150 and ask your phone to be unlocked. I was in the 7th month of my contract and agreed to pay £20 for Orange to send an unlock code. (Orange took 3 days to send the unlock code with instructions)

2. After successfully unlocking your HTC Hero, go here and downgrade your firmware from Orange to the Generic European one.

3. At rebooting into generic firmware, your networks should detect your firmware and offer you an upgrade.

Simples… !!
Let me write some Android (2.1) apps now :)