At the end of the day, Vista is not a great OS yet. That remains to be seen; like when Windows XP first came out, it was a little rocky, but not for long. As far as your Video card, it's not just NVidia. It is a host of hardware problems and compatibility that is conflicting with Microsoft’s new bloated piece of garbage no one asked for or needs right now, Vista. We are talking software incompatibilities, video card driver problems, performance issues, slow boot times, more required memory ad nauseam. Tell me Microsoft shouldn't shoulder the blame, or part of the blame here. I'd suggest contacting NVidia, and asking them about the driver problem, or get a new "Vista compliant" video card. And you will need a video card, because Vista doesn't run well with integrated graphics.
I havent heard of any compatibilty problems with other companies products, perhaps its because they havent come out with updated drivers yet. This I understand, with a new OS not everything will be a plug and play situation the other companies have to catch up.It was the sameway when moving from 98 to XP. However nVidia advertised there cards as Vista Ready, or built for Vista, which is the basis of a current class action that may be filed(not by me I dont do that stuff), being a first adapter comes with inherent risks however that doesnt mean a company, in this case nVidia, can make claims and then not back them up, or take there own sweet time with it.
Microsoft delayed Vista for many reasons, one being was to give the major players a chance to catch up. I simply cant fnd any fault in MS on this one as of yet, they did there job now its the vendors time to do theirs.
As far as you saying its not great, that a matter of opinion then. Once it loads its very smooth running(save for the video driver issues), applications run very smooth and they have a pop to them, the aero glass feautre is great, it allows previews of windows that are minimized and there are lots of other things that impresses me over XP, such as gadgets and a better organizing of files.