actually, i used particles 2.0  pretty much without looking at tuts.  the main thing i needed to look up was workflow (where to start, what to do second, etc.).  it probably would have helped me to look at info about the settings, but without it i was able to do what i wanted.  a couple of things that might not be obvious: first off, it's advertised for special efffects but can be used for more.  unless this function has been cut, it can use any obj file and distribute it around your scene.  so not only can it do the work of a fog effects tool and a fire effects tool, it can do the work of a scatter tool. second, it generates a figure with different body parts that are each "particle" (textured object).  each body part is transformable.  so you can tweak your cloud or what have you after it's generated.   and once you've made that figure, you can just save it if you want.  so if you wanted to bring it into some other program, you could.

the thing i really thought was amazing about particles 2.0 was the material gradients.  i mean, it's obvious, looking at it, that it can do that, but it still impresses me.  the ability to distribute color along several different pieces with separate materials is just really cool, imho.