Thanks for the responses. haha I've been trying to read the forums but terms like RUU and OTA and even update.zip (didn't realize till now they are 3 different installations) took me a while to even understand. lol!
I've been reading random posts saying the update is causing this or that (from earpiece not working to youtube freezing to internet lagging to battery taking forever to charge etc) but it doesn't always say which update they did, when, and if it's been fixed.
I got the OTA late last night but haven't installed it just so I can try to read a little more and understand what I'm doing. I found a helpful post about backing up and learned that using Astro for backing up apps will no longer link you to the Market so you won't get updates (I wouldn've never known and never gotten another update haha).
Just to try and help clarify these terms a bit more:
RUU:
Stands for ROM Update Utility. This is a windows executable downloaded to, and ran from, your PC.
What it does is copies Update.zip ( which is contained inside the exe ) to the SD card, Wipes the entire phone and installs Update.zip.
This method is just as automatic as the OTA, but a number of people have driver issues. However, due to the wipe this is the cleanest and smoothest installation.
OTA:
Stands for Over-The-Air. This is where VZW sends out the update to your phone. You receive it over the 3g wireless network: Hence "Over-The-Air".
What it does is Downloads and copies Update.zip to the SD card, and installs the Update.zip without removing anything from your phone.
This method is essentially automatic, and is the least likely to have an issue during the actual install process. However, as this method does not perform a wipe, it leaves a lot to chance regarding various problems. A manual Factory Reset will fix any of these issues, as it will factory reset to a clean install of the update ( In this case, 2.2. So, doing the OTA followed by a full Factory Reset is the same as doing the RUU. )
Manual Update/Update.zip:
Named this because it is the most basic and requires the user actually do the update themselves. This is where you download only the Update.zip automatically used by the other methods.
What it does is after having manually copied the the Update.zip onto the SD Card, you restart the phone and using the Recovery you choose to apply the Update.zip. This will install the Update.zip without removing anything from your phone, just like the OTA.
This method is still mostly automatic, all you really have to do is start it. This method is roughly between the RUU and OTA for issues during the install itself. There are a few things that can cause hiccups, but they are usually less problematic than drivers. However, as this method does not perform a wipe, it leaves a lot to chance regarding various problems. A manual Factory Reset will fix any of these issues, as it will factory reset to a clean install of the update ( In this case, 2.2. So, doing the Manual Update/Update.zip followed by a full Factory Reset is the same as doing the RUU. )
You should have noticed the main similarity between them as well. They ALL use Update.zip which is the file that actually contains the entire update...you just won't see this file when doing the RUU or OTA normally. This is partly how it is known that the RUU, OTA, and Update.zip are all identical. Besides this, the RUU is also a signed ( IE: Legitimate and verified ) file. The Update.zip was actually obtained from the RUU and OTA themselves. Finally: The versions of everything match exactly with each other, as well as the listed builds on the Verizon support site.
Hopefully that cleared up any question about the 3 methods for anyone
) And that's preferred? And so a hard reset wipes everything off your phone, completely? Like contacts, pictures, texts, etc? But then you probably won't have the bugs people are reporting with the OTA? Sorry for sounding dense, but this is my first smartphone and I'm clueless! 
