Well...
My opinion on Vista is a bit tainted, being primarily a Macintosh user. But now that disclaimer is out of the way:
Windows XP is FAR more stable.
Vista still throws an odd error now and then
Vista locks up my work laptop every so often (a fairly nice HP). Each and every time, the report suggests some other party other than MS is responsible - usually either the audio driver or the video driver.
Compatibility is still an issue with some hardware and quite a few software titles.
Vista’s security “features” will drive you nuts when you try to install anything (including many software updates).
Eye candy - take it or leave it - huge resource hog.
Vista overall is a resource hog. Turn off as much of the eye candy you can and it is a bit better.
The incredible disappearing “Recycle Bin” - I have had this happen 3 times now in the last 4 months. Apparently a known issue that no-one can seem to explain. You can get it back by going into the control panels and unchecking and rechecking the option to show the recycle bin on the desktop. But why????
Other various odd behaviors that lack a good explanation.
That being said, Vista is better than many previous version of Windows (other than XP). Vista will go down as the worst version of Windows ever released (with the possible exception of Windows Me).
No "possible" about it. As bad as Vista is, it doesn't hold a candle to the horror that was ME. I was never so glad to leave an OS in my life, as I was to put ME behind me...
the infowarrior