The default behavior on OS X doesn't make effective use of large monitors. New windows tend to Maximize, and those that don't, won't intelligently tile. The default behavior of xterm on a 1998 instance of FVWM makes better use of my monitor than a 2008 instance of the Macintosh OS.
For whatever reason, expose and I just don't seem to get along - I like to have all my windows in front of me at the same time (ergo the 30" Monitor). Another approach, multiple smaller monitors, isn't trivial to do with laptops.
I recently tripped across:
http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000928.html
Which seems to do a lot of good things on the PC - does anyone have insight into an equivalently excellent tool or procedure for the Mac?