Help New to Android and have questions

[Axkiker]

Hey all I was finally able to flash this Evo Shift over to my Sprint account so I have a few Android questions.

What mods etc do you feel are a must????

I performed a temp root in order to flash. Is there a reason to do a permanent root. If so why.

What apps do you recommend and why?

Any hints or tricks to get the best performance.

Battery life seems to suck... What options are there to help this issue... Seems like I keep reading about some app that manages power usage.

What case do you recommend? I saw something called an otterbox on EBAY... looked like a good solid case

Thanks guys