Adam asks,

“Im just about to have my first go at Windows Movie Maker.. Any tips?”

No problem. My first tip is to start with the relatively unknown treasure-trove of articles, tips and tricks at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/moviemaker/.  There are how-to articles, free downloads with add-ons, pointers to 3rd party transitions and effects, and articles at three levels: Beginner, Intermediate and Expert.

Here are a few of my personal tips:

• Use transitions sparingly... outside the basic wipe or fade. 
• Use one of the roll-by video effects for credits, and bring in your favorite Photo Story (just drag and drop the .wmv into Movie Maker, or for more basic transitions, bring photos into MM2). These make for fun and easy eye-candy as the credits are rolling.
• Create two images in paint (or your favorite photo program, I use Digital Image Suite 9 and Photo Shop for more advanced stuff).  Make one 720x480 all-white, another all black.  Use these for dramatic (and timed) fades to black or white in your project.
• Check out www.sounddogs.com for more sound effects, and one of the world's largest online music libraries.  From loops to just about any type or mood, they have it.  I use their stuff all the time for public demos.
• Play with the video effects.  Sepia + Older Film Grain = a neat effect.
• Visit the Movie Maker Newsgroup on MS.com.  PapaJohn is one of our great MVPs who also runs an in-depth site on MM2 and knows a lot more than I do.

We're always looking for good home videos to showcase on Microsoft.com.  If you have one (with rights-approved music), and are interested in the fame and fortune that comes with this (okay who are we kidding?), please let me know here or in email.

I hope that helps.  If others post tips and tricks here, I'll be sure to aggregate them. We're also working on a project to make how-to's across our digital media features more discoverable.  As always, let us know what you'd like to see.