One main quirk I've had with using Drupal (and other Open Source CMSs for that matter), is that when I need to do some heavy maintenance and take a site down, the default 'site offline' message looks pretty mickey mouse and though I'm proud of using Drupal, I'd rather have my own logo, if one at all, when people see that my site is down - I mean, it looks as if they've reached some page they shouldn't have and something's seriously messed up.

Well, you don't have to waste much time pondering these things like I have - there are two approaches in Drupal 5 that let you beautify the site offline message, and I recommend you read this post:

http://drupal.org/node/58562

About 2/3 of the way down the page you'll see mention of a simple template.tpl.php include which will redirect people to a custom/static page or URL but still allow you to access site login/admin pages. :)

I just came across a little introduction to what Drupal is - with a simple overview on how to get started installing and setting up a Drupal site, over in Tech Republic's article section.

Though the article is titled 'Build a community Web space with Drupal,' it doesn't go into any detail on how one might, well, actually do that!  Its a more involved topic than the brief piece could detail - and one I think I'll be posting more on in the next couple of weeks - so stay tuned to this space.

Like any new software, if you've never used Drupal then you'll have to suffer a learning curve... though, if you're excited about doing amazing things with it that will change the world, then this won't be an issue :) 

I highly recommend not jumping into the deep when when you're a newbie; that means - don't feel pressured to learn everything about Drupal because you have a project deadline!  Its much better to have the peace of mind going into a paid project - knowing both your limitations as well as those of the software you're using.