I beta tested Vista from its first option on Microsoft's beta webpage, all the way until it went gold and our beta license stopped working, at which point I went back to Ubuntu linux on my desktop and put Windows XP back on my laptop.
Windows Vista is a resource hog that removes vast amounts of control from users. Doing the simplest thing is impossible or immensely difficult. Strangely, MAC OSX became more linux-like while Windows Vista became more like prior releases of MAC os...