Finally decided to stop lurking around these forums and decided to register and get involved. I am absolutely happy to describe myself as a beginner in poker, having only been playing online for a few months. That said I think I have crossed the first major hurdle in that now when I raise pre flop with AA only to be called by someone holding something like 53o who then wins I don't freak out over the loss, instead I enjoy the fact that there is someone on the table who is happy to play in a raised pot with utter garbage in his hand, as I know I will be taking that money back eventually.

I have read and re read the various advice on this site about winning at micro limits (thanks to everyone who posts such info for us fishes to use), but one thing I don't see is advice on how to use that information to improve as a player. I don't want to just win at the micro's I want to be using that time to get better at playing poker.

So my question to the community is just that, when playing really tight in order to beat the micro limits what should I be doing to become a better player at the same time? I can easily just fire up a number of tables and play as outlined in this thread, but am I hurting myself in the long run by doing that (multi tabling)? Would I be better off playing just one table and (while playing as outlined) be looking to improve? If so is there any particular aspect of my game that I should be looking to improve on, or is it a case of just carrying on multi tabling the micro's to get comfy with online poker in general? Should I be trying to look for patterns in my opponents play, or with this being micro stakes is this a pointless exercise? Is it better to multi table just to get used to poker or single table then spend time reviewing the play afterwards?

Thanks for those of you that took the time to read the wall of text above

Each stake level has it's own slightly different atmosphere to it, if youre beating super micro, move up to the next level of micro and adjust to the player tendencies and rinse repeat. You can only be so good at "playing poker" until I think it turns more into "playing your opponents", and you can look at that from the aspect of just the 5 other villains at the table or the entire mindset of the stake level you're at.
I think when you move up in stakes it wouldnt hurt to stick to one table for a while and just play as you have been previously and see if you can pick up on the slight nuances. Once you're used to that, (and once again assuming you have at least a decent grasp on some semi advanced poker strategy and are a semi solid player) then of course start loading up as many tables as you can handle.

Guess i already touched on that stuff. Mind you I have only been seriously delving into poker over the last 7 months and have yet to play a real money game. I've just been soaking up wisdom and playing play money to overcome the fear and anxiety behind real money and get rid of bad habits and apply the wisdom.