Same; though upon browsing the support page for uBar, I stumbled on this:
defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-delay -float 1000 && killall Dock
Thanks ics I updated the support page.
A taskbar like Windows is useful to know what are your alt-tab targets, of if you need to open a new app. But good idea, I'm going to try the empty dock.
I use the empty dock too - well, nearly. I have emacs, terminal and browser on there permanently, for quick access to my 3 most-used programs. For quick access to everything else, I've got a shortcut to the Applications folder too. (Sort by Name, Display as Stack, View Content as Automatic.) To reduce clutter, you could alternatively make yourself a ~Applications folder with a reduced set of shortcuts in it, and add a shortcut to that instead.
I'm certain OS X was set up this way when I first got my computer, but I've used some people's Macs and they don't have it. So... maybe it wasn't? But anyway, default or not, it works well.
For launching I use a tool like Quicksilver or Alfred of Spotlight.
This way I get more screen realestate, I see no point staring at a dock icons all the time.
My dock resembles Command-Tab.