1. Only use Hacks / Plugins where no Manual File Edits are required.
Although most Hacks that have been released so far don't require File Edits (and out of those that currently do, a fair amount could be done without), there will always be Hacks that can't be done without File Edits
i was way excited for 3.5 to come up but i won't be upgrading my board until
a) 3.5 goes gold and is reported stable
b) all the hacks i have for 3.0.x are created for 3.5
c) i have the time and patience to upgrade. like erwin, i'll probably take some time off for it but not a whole week.
exactly! my stable (in the wild, running with multiple hacks without falling down) is different from their stable (vanilla install in a test environment).