static front pages in 2.0

I am using WordPress on several sites for more of a cms system than for a blog. I want a static front page, and then to create pages instead of posts.

The newer WordPress, 1.5.2 and now 2.0 are nice in that they have page features (I used to make pages manually and then include only certain categories into them and so forth).

I find this codex page needing an edit:
https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Creating_a_Static_Front_Page

And this plug in:
https://semiologic.com/software/static-front/
But it doesn’t appear to be updated.
and thus far it isn’t listed here:
https://codex.www.ads-software.com/User:Matt/2.0_Plugin_Compatibility

I also sometimes just create a unique index page, but that creates problems as well as it must be manually updated.

There must be a better way. One of the problems with themes is that each time you install one, the index page essentially changes with it …

Thanks for any suggestions.