Well, I had the opportunity to deploy a Windows Vista machine yesterday. Yes, on Windows Vista Launch Day, I actually deployed a retail Vista machine for a client. Who would have thought? Well, they needed a new machine set up, and of course, all of the XP machines are "sold out" all across town… the pre-built ones, anyway.
First impressions? It's a lot more polished than the last version I ran, which admittedly was RC1. It was pretty slow on a 3.4Ghz 512MB machine, though. Tolerable, but slow. What's weird is that it was "Home Basic" installed, so no Aero interface, and it was still slow. On a PCI-E Radeon 1100. Hrm.
Anyways, if you are thinking of checking out Vista, and I suggest you do, view this webpage at Microsoft so that you can see the difference between the "editions" of Windows Vista that have been released.
Also, if you are thinking of moving to Vista, I strongly recommend that you go to your local Apple store and play with a new iMac or MacBook. After all, Vista is such a major upgrade, you're going to be purchasing a new machine and new versions of most (if not all) of your software. Don't forget that you can get Microsoft Office for Mac, if you need to.
Alternatively, download and check out Ubuntu Linux. It comes with OpenOffice.org pre-installed, and the downloaded CD that you get can even be used as a "Live" bootable on your existing computer without screwing up the OS you already have installed.
