I see alot of HT with their rfont speakers right next to the TV. Other HT have the speakers way off to the sides in the corners of the room. Which way is better? Does it matter much? What are your thoughts.

Well, I don't think putting them right beside the TV is a good idea unless you're sitting really close to the TV.
Dolby says that the front speakers should make a 45 degree angle with the sitting position because that's how the mixer is sitting when mixing the soundtrack.
Check out the Dolby site http://www.dolby.com
They have lots of pointers there on how to position your 5 speakers.
Andy

I for one keep mine right next to the TV. I do this first of all because I lack the space to put them farther apart. Secondly, I think it may sound less "realistic" if they were too far apart. For instance, sometimes there is a car or something on the screen but you can hear the engine running with sound coming from the left or right speaker (whichever it would be closest to). If the speaker was far away this might not sound or look realistic to what is on the screen. However when things pan from left to right, the effect may be better if the speakers were farther apart. Maybe in the future we'll have like 9.1 sound or something with 2 pairs of front speakers (one pair close and one pair farther apart!) lol...just my .02!

Make sure your speakers are magnetically shielded before you put them next to the tv!