I got a lot of permissions errors when setting the permissions on the command line, and also a couple (for index.php and .htaccess) when installing (will have to talk to NuBlue about how to update them next time). However, since the only change in the two files was stuff for the super-new compiled stuff, I feel that I can address that problem next time.
For my local server, I simply downloaded the latest version, deleted my "magento" DB, created a new empty one, and installed (checking back with Max Berndt's "Getting Started with Magento Ecommerce!" to make sure I didn't miss anything). To install French, I downloaded the French pack, downloading the "Full Package", and copying the two fr_FR folders to the appropriate folders in Magento.