When you first install it, Microsoft wants to give you the feeling that you are stepping into the future.  The installation is much prettier than any previous versions of windows.  But this of course comes at a cost, your RAM.  Yes, it eats your ramz.

If you are lucky enough to have a fair amount of RAM (512mb+), then you are good to go.  However, if you have anything below 512, don't bother with Vista, keep XP.  While Vista has many security improvements over XP, they are not significant enough for you to have to upgrade.

For you older folks out there who remember Windows 3.1 and switching to the new Windows 95, prepare for some deja vu.  Vista has changed many things that you have spent years getting used to.  It took me an hour to connect to my home network, with XP it takes me about 45 seconds.

My laptop contains a 128mb video card and 2gb of RAM, even with that, I found times that their new look, with transparencies on all the windows, there were times of lag.  Photoshop takes twice as long to load on an initial run.  Another annoyance I found...  Vista asks you for permission all the time.  When Vista wanted to update my clock since it was off, I got a pop up.  Every time a wireless network was detected, I got pop ups until I figured out how to turn them off.

Now, Vista isn't all bad.  Yes, it is a much prettier interface overall.  The new sidebar is great.  It has a small notepad, a digital clock, calendar, RSS feed reader, and a few other widgets.  Windows Explorer has been made much easier to navigate through.   Not to mention the new encryption makes it 10 times harder for a hacker to get your datas.

A few more features that deserve some mention:  The alt+tab is completely new.  Now it shows all the windows skewed and rotate in 3d.  A very nice effect.  And when you hover over open programs in your task bar, a small thumbnail of what you have open appears.  Best of all, voice control.  Tell your computer to open Internet Explorer, it does.  Tell it to open Word, then tell it what to write...  It does.

Now the worst part about Vista: There is a total of 5 versions!  Ultimate, Home Premium, Home Basic, Business, and Enterprise.  Your typical home user will only realy have to decide between the 2 home editions.  Businesses have their work cut out for themselves.  Here is a list of the editions and information.

Conclusion:
Pros:
Pretty interface and new icons
A useful Sidebar
Strong encryptions
Build in Spy ware tools
Voice recognition

Cons:
Eats memory
Already has 2 CRITICAL updates
Many easy tasks in XP have been changed enough to make it harder to do in Vista
To many versions

Final thoughts:
If XP works for you, then stick with it.  Vista isn't work it at the moment, in my opinion.  I will be waiting at least 6 months before I update again, since I uninstalled it right after I wrote this review, giving them plenty of time to iron out all the bugs.  There are also still thousands of programs not compatible with Vista, so give the vendors time to catch up.