I think the Rocket Dock idea is a pretty good one. Also I wrote a command line program to set the work area. That way you can use the ordinary Maximize Button on application and Explorer windows without covering RocketDock. It's called Adjust Work Area. You can download from here:
Faves Downloads
The easiest way it to play around with the numbers after you have your second taskbar or dock set up. Then just make a .cmd file with the command and numbers hard coded, put a shortcut into the StartUp Folder or in the Registry Run key (see my RunIt app for putting the app in the Run key. It's available on the same page.)
All the apps on my site are free for you to use at your own risk. I only have English language Windows for testing so if you need Unicode all I can say is try them and see what happens.