Mmm… Ice Cream Sandwich. All the Android fans in the audience are surely lusting after the many new features to be included in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, but what if you can’t wait for its official release? What if you don’t want to buy the Galaxy Nexus? Thankfully, there are some ways to get a taste of ICS without actually getting ICS.

Whitson Gordon of Lifehacker has put together a guide that outlines exactly how you can utilize some of the new Ice Cream Sandwich features on your existing Android device. Not surprisingly, several of these hacks and workarounds will require you to root your phone (or tablet).

For example, you can get a cool new lock screen with WidgetLocker. Using this, you can add extra sliders for shortcuts to frequently used apps, like getting quick access to the camera right from the lock screen. For something a little more reliable, you can turn to a ROM like CyanogenMod for home screen customizations too.

The guide also describes how to swipe to clear single notifications, how to customize the launcher, how to take screenshots, how to get the new Roboto font, how to view desktop webpages from the mobile browser, how to track your data usage (including an app-by-app breakdown), and more. It’s not quite the same as having ICS, but you could say it’s like dunking your Oreo in some soft serve.