Thanks James.
There are definitely some nice templates there for free and probably more than enough for people who are just starting out.
I still like WooThemes and Studiopress for the added support but we are building sites for high fees and the business can afford to sustain these costs.
For individuals starting out, free themes are probably the way to go.
As a side note, I build the first version of my website 2 years ago using straight HTML and Dreamweaver. Maintenance was a nightmare.
I switched over to the Metro Theme from Studiopress in the spring and it has been night and day improvement. My search engine rankings have shot through the charts and all of my articles seem to get indexed a lot more quickly. It is also way easier to publish new content.
Conclusion: Go with Wordpress
