Digital Home Thoughts: Going Vertical

So, I've been experimenting both at home and at work with switching my monitors to portrait orientation. I've found that even on a widescreen monitor, putting two windows side by side does not always quite cut it, but it is pretty easy to work in portrait orientation with one window above the other. On a standard monitor, like I use at work, the portrait mode is much better for working with typical office applications.

Overall, I really like the setup, but have a few issues that may make me revert, at least on my home machine. First off, Windows Media center will not even open when you are in portrait mode. Granted the experience is optimized in landscape, but it seems shortsighted that the software should not even open. Second, is there any way to move the Vista Windows Sidebar to the bottom of the screen? I know it is called the sidebar, but it would be nice if there were options other than left and right. Any suggestions?