Do you maintain a base wordpress install image for use on multiple projects?

No. I have a multisite installation set up locally that I use for theme and plugin development for clients. When I'm setting up a site for someone, I evaluate the needs of each client and what they've hired me to do specifically and install plugins as needed based on that. I used to keep a WordPress install with all the plugins I used out of the box on every site, but it got to be such a hassle keeping them all up to date, that I just abandoned the concept.

What I'd like to see is more of a dialogue regarding what people use specifically. I'm trying to build-in the right amount of essential function and SEO out of the box. This is what I came up with, assuming I'm using the Genesis Theme Framework. Performance: W3 Total Cache General Plugins: Genesis Simple Hooks Genesis Simple Edits Query Posts Widget Widget Context Widgets Reloaded SEO Plugins WordPress SEO SEO Slugs Redirection Broken Link Checker Google Analytics for Wordpress Security Plugins Login Lockdown AskApache Backup Plugins BackupBuddy WP DB Manager Administrator Only Plugins Justin Tadlock's Members Plugin White Label CMS Adminimize

We wrote a WordPress plugin to do this - but we based it on Genesis as this is our chosen framework - so you have to want to use Genesis to use it.  Been using it for a months in house and now it is released to the public. It a premium plugin but is low-cost.  http://www.wpwhoosh.com

We do a lot of development in Wordpress and do not have an install "image" per se but we do have a core group of plugins that we use for all sites and then a series of anscillary plugins at our disposal based on the type of site - product based, service based, etc.