It allows complete control over the display of the write post/page options, allowing you to hide the stuff that most authors don’t use or just find plain confusing! It also allows you to control uploader type, post revisions and auto saves all from a handy control panel.

I’ve found it instantly makes WordPress easier to use for new authors and hides away stuff that often just confuses them.

For private areas in an otherwise public blog, you should look at Post Levels found at http://fortes.com/projects/wordpress/postlevels

I have seen people create a “private” section of their blog for themselves using .htaccess permissions, or you could mark individual posts as private to hide them non-privleged accounts. Editors and Administrators can see private posts.

I’m still looking for a way to make just a single category on my blog protected only to users. Rolescoper seems to provide functionality like this, but I imagine most users would find it a bear to set up.

Have you looked into per-category permissions?

J