I've written a couple of different posts on how to utilize Drupal's views and panels modules to create some easy dynamic pages. The other day, I took this idea one step further and created a nice little screencast of that same tutorial. Personally, I'd rather read a tutorial than watch a video, but I know everyone learns a little differently. Be warned, this is my first screencast so it's a little rough (at least I think) but definitely gets the job done. (Listen for the special queue around 11:40)

By default, views of type Term link to category pages (taxonomy/term/[tid]). I find that category pages are more useful as custom views where you can control fields. You can effectively replace the default category pages with a customized view by following this views recipe. And no programming is needed.