Which Word 2003 table creation and formatting methods are still stable?

I'm now experiencing those wonderful table problems, since I experimented
with Table Autoformat before I read the past month's discussions on the
conflict between modified Normal style, custom styles applied to tables, and
Autoformat Table Styles. Here's what I think I learned:

Never use: Draw Table, Table Autoformat, or Microsoft's Table Styles (until
Microsoft fixes these functions)

Still stable: Insert Table and Convert Text to Table (no Table |
Autoformat). For tables created by these methods, the end of row style is
Table Grid, even though the Convert dialog box says: "Table style: (none)."
Doesn't matter what style the table is inserted into, other than for ease of
formatting; that style is the table's initial style for each cell. Custom
styles work as defined in these tables. Doesn't matter if Normal has been
modified or if custom styles are based on Normal (mine are not).

Don't understand: when/how to use Table Normal style? This style was
mentioned in some of the discussions as useful, without any further
explanation.

To fix bad tables: convert to text, then back to tables, and then update
the document's style definitions. Also delete any Microsoft Table Styles
from the document and template. Do I have to convert all tables in the
document, or just those that aren't Table Grid?

Is there anything else I need to do to ensure that tables work reliably?