Best move we ever made was putting the vinyl siding on this house. We had masonite siding which was rotting out from under us. The house looks good, and other than an occasional power wash the siding is maintenance free. I'm hoping next year we can go ahead with vinyl windows.
That said of course, my preference would have been brick. But for our house that would'v been a bit to spendy.
LOL! That was my plan too but I never made it to replacing the windows. Little things like new furnace, new driveway, and new deck sorta got in the way.
I don't like vinyl; a personal prejudice. We're going to use fiber-cement siding, and we're going to replace the rough-sawn cedar we have so that the house is uniform. SSQ prefers a larger 'reveal' on the boards than what we have now, anyway, and the fiber cement is supposed to hold a paint finish twice as long as wood! We're looking at one manufacturer that sells pre-painted siding with a 25 yr. finish warranty. We'd never have to paint again as long as we live here! Problem is, I don't like any of the colors they have right now. ;o(