well, garry, it depends on the size of your monitor.
i mostly have one of the properties palette open (but only one at a time)... but sometimes hide bot to access things that are otherwise below them.
on 1.5.3 you will probably have to learn about F2 (the "old" properties palettte) and F3 (the text palette), dock both to the right of your monitor and use the keyboard shortcut to display the one you currently need.
except if you have a huge display... but, even then, i'm not sure i would want to have both at the same time... the mouse will have to travel very far, to access the palettes...