Pros: Chipset & Software supported throughout the known universe. Optimized for XP. Easy setup.
Cons: Some tinkering required for external audio connections. Good reflexes needed for RAID setup.
The bottom line: Don't underestimate the importance of "Intel Underneath"! They know all the tweaks. Microsoft knows where it's bread is buttered, so they've optimized XP for P4's...and it worked!
It is axiomatic that one should rarely gamble on Version 1.0 of anything - including fledgling manufacturers. We've also learned the hard way to be wary of unnecessary bells and whistles (often advertised as "exclusive innovations" or some such). A motherboard is a terrible place to take risks, and the Intel D875PBZ is definitely a safe harbor. As I approach a full year's experience with it, my positive recommendations become even more certain.

I chose this board as the foundation upon which to build my first "monster box" after a hellish experience trying to install XP on a Dell which used a proprietary MOBO (translate that as fairly cheapo components) and RAMBUS memory. I wanted a board which could work and play well with others, and after some exhaustive research I determined that this was the board for me. Intel and Microsoft have worked with each other at the design level for decades now, and it really shows. XP was remarkably docile during installation.

The board provides an abundance of USB ports (4 in back & 2 onboard) as well as 2 IEEE ports and audio pinouts for case connections. The audio connectors can be downright baffling, largely due to the nomenclature in sound card documentation being variable. As long as you're careful about avoiding hot power pins, the trial-and-error method isn't too trying.

I'll give this HUGE benefit it's own paragraph:
Intel's web support for its products is absolutely the finest in the industry. Personally, I'm sick to death of support sites "troubleshooting" FAQ's hovering around the technical sophistication level of "Is the power cord plugged in?" Intel's database is mind-boggling in its depth. Believe me, you will avoid much stress and disgust by avoiding telephone support altogether whenever possible.

Some minor quirks:

1) Heat management. Fair warning to those who install a Prescott processor - you will need to push LOTS of air over it. Plan on at least 3 120mm case fans plus a high performance processor fan. The board's sensors keep an eye on the temperature in 3 zones, processor, video, and memory. If the processor zone begins to cook itself for any length of time (the threshhold is around 75C I think), the chipset will reduce the clock speed to avoid a meltdown. This is not a feature unique to this board, though many other manufacturers include a BIOS override for it. I haven't seen such a workaround in the Intel documentation. The Intel insallation manual includes a prominent warning regarding thermal management, so I opted for over-overkill. To wit: Thermaltake Shark full tower case, a 3-fan power supply, 3 case fans, and dedicated fans for the processor and video board. Also, I avoided the Prescott's problems by lucking into one of the last of the high-performance Northwood chips. Little wonder I've had no heat problems.

2) Setting up & using RAID: The board has design-level integrated support for RAID Levels 0 and 1, which works perfectly. However, you may learn from my experience here. The BIOS must be set up correctly for the RAID controller before installing the Intel RAID driver from the floppy disk, so check the BIOS settings carefully before beginning. When initially setting up the computer and telling the OS installer to load a "third-party SCSI or RAID driver" (F6 key in XP setup), the driver install program does its thing and then flashes a screen message at you - and I mean it FLASHES...right by you. You'll get about 0.9 seconds to press Ctrl-i and access the RAID configuration utility before it dumps you back into the OS setup. With XP, this means grinding your teeth while it continues merrily copying files and whatever else it does for the next 5 to 8 minutes before you have to cancel out of the XP installation and start all over again.

In summation: What makes this MOBO exceptional is its RELIABILITY and its PERFORMANCE, especially in concert with the ubiquitous Windows XP OS. I can tell you that while running this combination for a year, I've had NO (none...zero...) system crashes except when a SATA drive chewed itself up - and even then the system was very well-behaved during recovery. If you opt for RAID Level 0 using a matched pair of SATA drives and dual-channel memory mode using a matched pair of memory cards, you will find yourself with a screamer of a "monster box"!