Vista was not remotely the crash and burn that 8 has been.
Vista didn’t change the user paradigm... 8 did, and in a horrifically bad way.
Also Vista was release in 07 when the juggernaught that would be the Mac Ecosystem for devices only contained a classic Ipod, as well as data interchangeability which is far more open than 7 years ago.
The barrier to changing OS’s is not what it was for the consumer.
Its a different world in 2014.
With a few tweaks Windows 8 looks and feels just like 7, but is a better underlying OS. I think your claims are wishful thinking. Most people will either stay with 7, tweak 8, or wait for 10, rather than switch to the Beach Ball of Death.