I was doing a fair bit of freelance support when Vista came out, so I actually bought a retail copy of it (from a real store, in a box, with a disc!) to install and to use, so that I might actually understand it enough to feel right with charging Real Money to support it semi-efficiently.

It was my experience that it was mostly fine. It had teething problems, as many things do. It had lasting quirks that were frustrating.

But generally, it worked well enough for me -- given other options. I never once said to myself "Self, this particular version of Windows is repugnant and filthy, and I want to go back to Windows XP now!!!"

(...because, as any Win2k fanboy would heartily remind anyone at the least-significent mention: Windows XP was a Skittles-colored turd. But Win2k was really old in computer-years by the time Vista came 'round, so that wasn't very viable either.)