I finally have a few minutes to look into upgrading Atahualpa (I'm currently on 3.3.3). Which I want to do. However:

1. After scanning the notes and posts I couldn't determine whether it was required to upgrade to WP 2.8.x, or not?

2. I understand a number of my plugins will likely break if I upgrade to WP 2.8.x and I don't have days and days at the moment to fix and test and fix and text (we're in the middle of moving to another State). Here's my current plugin list:

Akismet 2.2.3
Breadcrumb NavXT 3.2.1
Customize Meta Widget 0.2
Dagon Design Sitempa Generator 3.16
Feedburner Feedsmith 2.3.1
Google XML Sitemaps 3.1.3
Hackadelic TOC Boxes 1.5.2
HeadSpace2 3.6.28
LMB^Box Comment Quicktags 2.4
Peter's Login Redirect 1.7.0
Revision Control 1.9.1
SimpleModal Contact Form (SMCF) 1.2.3
Sociable 3.3
TinyMCE Advanced 3.2
WP-PageNavi 2.40
WP Customized Login 1.0

Any input that would make this process easier would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Upgrading Wordpress is not required on Atahualpa's behalf. As for the plugins, you'd really need to test this

Thanks, Flynn.