In our SharePoint 2003 implementation, we used a base custom site
definiton for instantiating all WSS sites, I believe based upon your
recommendation.

1. With the addition of features and master pages that can readily be
used for customization, do you still recommend starting with a
customized site definition? I am thinking that our customizations will
most likely take place through features and master pages.

2. Since creating a site with a template will still allow future
customizations via css, master pages and features, what is the
advantage of useing a custom site definition?

3. I see that features are stapled to site definition templates. There
seems to be extra overhead if you create your own. Might this be a
reason to stay with the out of the box and customize with features?