Okay, about to go ahead and jailbreak for the first time ever, so please, someone clarify that for me (haven't specifically seen it addressed yet):

I'm on 3.0.1 FW, but not jailbroken yet. If I understand correctly I can just directly restore to a custom 3.1.2. (without JB the 3.0.1 beforehand). However, which mode will I have to put the "virgin" 3.0.1 phone into? DFU? Restore? None?

Thanks! So I just follow the normal instructions with the exception that I put the phone in DFU-mode?

I tried to figure it out myself but I'm still confused and haven't seen it addressed specifically yet:

I have a 3GS FW 3.0.1, never unlocked or jailbroken. Do I need to jailbreak with redsnow first to update with the custom 3.1.2 FW, or can I directly restore with a custom 3.1.2 FW and voila, jailbroken?

Also, if I will be using the official carrier for another 3 months but then switch, should I restore to a unactivated FW now and when the time comes restore to an activated FW (e.g.: will restoring to an activated FW now screw with my service with the official carrier)?

Thanks for the great work and to anybody who can help me out here!

Alright, so I've read a whole bunch and would just like to make sure I've got it all correct:

I bought my iPhone 3GS yesterday and was happy to find out that it still had 3.0.1 on it. So does that mean that I will be able to use redsnow to jailbreak and PwnageTool to unlock (or should I use ultrasnow)?

I'm asking because I'm not clear on whether the unlock/jb procedure will require a reset at the end which would force me to upgrade to 3.1, rendering the whole thing useless.

Also, even if the jb/unlock still works without being forced to upgrade, I wont be able to get the IBEC/IBSS files, because I'd have to reset it for that, correct?

So basically:
bought a new iphone with 3.0.1 -> can do jb and unlock still -> can't grab IBEC/IBSS files anymore, correct?

P.S.: thanks to the teams for doing great work, you guys a heroes.