I'm seeing a lot of talk about new os updates from carriers like TM and others.
I'm in Australia and use the Optus network. Am I able to upgrade my Pearl with some of these updates? or is it just for those phones that are linked to those carriers?

All of the software is written by RIM and tested and released by the carriers. You can run any version of the handheld OS (regardless of which carrier released it) with no problems.

Many Thanks