Vista is a perfectly viable operating system.

I too read tons of negative reviews about it - Sites like Digg (members) seem to relish in attacking it (granted, not all of them, but it seems like some sort of sport to the majority to hit on Vista).

I purchased a new, pre-built machine which came loaded with Vista Home Premium (if I'm honest, I didn't have any intention of purchasing it as an upgrade as I was happy with XPSP2)...

I was a little sceptical but I can honestly say I've not found one thing that I don't like (that I can't either configure to my liking or turn off all together).

I've used every single Microsoft OS and have my pet hates about each - Vista on the other hand has been a breath of fresh air from the get go.

I've not had one serious OS crash/lock up - I've been able to control any issues that have arisen and it runs generally very smoothly.

I jumped on the Ubuntu bandwagon when it first started rolling - I like the OS, but a Windows replacement it is not.