I finished all sidequests, the main quest, all official mods (except for Knights of the Nine that wasnt out at the time) and I made sure I got max bonus for every level except the first. It was difficult to max at first but became easier to keep the skills in control once my primary weapon and heal was maxed. I am planning to save Knights of the Nine until there's a larger expansion to the game.
Having said that, I prefer the Gothic approach when it comes to leveling/monster difficulty. You have free roaming just like before, but you hesitate to go into areas where you know there are monsters you cannot yet beat. I hope they take that approach for the next Elder Scrolls game. I also look forward to see how they can top Oblivion when it comes to graphics.
All in all it took me 3 weeks to finish everything in the game (using an alternate character for "evil" quests).
I upgraded the computer to be able to play it with top graphics. You can see some of the screenshots I took of the game here:
1024x768, if you click "Parent Directory" you can see them in full resolution (1920x1440).
