joomla 1.5

i just started evolve.com, and on third attempt of putting it online, i noticed that joomla 1.5 (stable) has been launched. Quite amazing, because i have tested, joomla 1.5 RC4 (code name: takreeban) and wasn't happy, because it wasn't stable.
So i finally decided to take rist again, i know its not good thing to test things when short time and not sure about stability. thats what i am suffering from right now.
still below are my comments based on first project on joomla 1.5 after delivering two websites on joomla 1.0
make sure all the components / modules / plugins will work. it seems they will but actually they won't unless developers / community hasn't confirmed.
seyret video component didn't worked. but i was lucky enough to found xe-media galleries. they worked and they are good.
simple image gallery and pro version totally don't worked. developer is working on new version but not out. so i wasted almost 3 days with ahsan(radical) to find a new, easy to use (generate thumbnails from folders) one of main requirement from studio based websites. it all went waste. because there are so many galleries out there, a lot with plugin support rather than component (which is of no use in my case). i am still stuck at this point. Any way, hopefully it will be solved soon. Other than that, it is definitely one of the best joomla update i could imagine. They have really shrinked / reduced interface the way it sould be, slick, slim and smart.

joomla stuff & Notes

while using joomla, i have tested so many components that i fear soon, i’ll forget everything about them. below are my feelings so when i have to use them next time, i’ll waste less time in searching and more time in getting output

Image Galleries

simple image gallery pro is best for creating run time thumbnails and works as mambot
FPS (front page slide show) extremly decent for front page artwork showcase, only drawback is you need to enter slides manually. still worth it.

Video Galleries

seyret is best video component available out there, super good.
xe-video gallery v3, looks more good then above :)

Boards/Forums

fireboard is best even i was unable to remove the “register button”

PMS (online project management)

project fork is best and was extremly helpful because only component to help / allow manage groups

News Letter Signup

letterman was which i choose from rest, simple, easy and usefull ( kees these separate from registered users)

BLOG

mojo wasn't as good as myBlog was.

FORMS

philAform was most suitable for me, simple , visual and easy to setup
will keep adding more
update: next year
IMAGE RANKINGS

recently i had to finalize logo for kids channel and we had so much options.
i had studied different methods / solutions. as i had to consider team votings so i found HOT OR NOT2 to be best possible solution. it is one of the best, it lets easily users to vote everything and add comments, which was very helpful
SURVEY's
i recently, had to do some surveys online ( my company 500+ ppl in office) to collect feedback
i consider lots of different extensions / components. major conclusions are mentioned below
some components which seems good are $ based. even major have feedback agisnst them
just like dotProject best product on PM available for free as huge/ massive open source product
company named LimeWire ((http://www.limesurvey.org)) has done lot of useful work to help everyone.
such a nice and decent stuff.
typical problem with beginner / simple users like me is not liking of separate application and digesting the headache of management this. so impressive thing is i found same software ported / implemented in joomla by one of pious and genius guy on earth. and just like other gurus, he has shared it for free.
component named was "joo survey" and definitely one of best possible thing as per my needs
huge thanks to guy