What can I expect from the "Pure Google" Nexus S 4G?
I have a Nexus S for T-Mobile, and I've enjoyed it so far. 


There's only been one update for the Nexus S so far, to 2.3.3. I didn't get it the first day, so I installed it myself.
Unless Sprint turns it off, you should be able to tether. I can both over Wifi and USB.
I have never needed to root, and I'm a rather advanced Android user. You can unlock the bootloader without doing anything fancy on the Nexus S.


I truly enjoy having a clean phone. There are a few apps installed by Google that I can't remove (with root you can), but they don't bug me much. It doesn't have the load of crapware that most carriers apply, and it definitely does not have the various awful custom UIs manufacturers feel they need to add.

It runs fast for everything I do, including some light gaming; I generally wait till I'm at my PC to game, but it plays Angry Birds and Robot Unicorn Attack just fine.