262
Wubuntu: The lovechild of Windows and Linux nobody asked for
(www.theregister.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
I did the exact same thing. IceWM with XP skin, Firefox with an extension that changed the name in the title bar to internet explorer + a IE theme. Then Thunderbird with an outlook theme. For years they used it like this and no longer did I have to clean out viruses or remove IEs additional toolbars that plagued that era.
Occasionally I would run some updates and that was it.