This is an excellent guide/article by a great website and you should bookmark TweakGuides.com. The multiple page guide/article details issues and tweaks to get the most of Vista as well as counter much of the rumor and anti-Microsoft crowd.
TweakGuides.com - Vista Annoyances Resolved
Even if you don’t agree with the guide, the site has many other great tips and tricks. Personally I am really not a OS zealot, I just use the one that runs my common applications native and does not come with a proprietary hardware, one that requires me to compile most everything or have limited applications, or has annoying fact stretching commercials. OK so I am bias to what currently works for me but if something better comes along, I am all for it.
I have yet to find the perfect flaw free OS or one without barbs and downsides so I have to ride with the largest majority for applications and compatibility.
Hey, I have been asking for years even to Apple employees, “just give me OSX on a PC (legally and officially)” and all vendors move to a common programming platform/architecture at least at the CPU instructions are basically the same.
Make everyone's lives easier and less stress and we can just choose on who does it best and run applications on a virtualization layer if need be. Imagine all the applications that could run across multiple OS platforms and the smiles regardless of the brand on your hardware.
Similar to cameras, CD players standardizing on a common formats but perhaps a wee bit more complex and disputed. Most all the OS’s right now can run on an Intel or compatible CPU except some do lock down the use and access to the CPU for perhaps control of their hardware and what runs on it.
Disclaimer: I work for a large software company that develops applications on multiple platforms such as Windows, Linux, and Mac closed source and opensource, the broad spectrum.
Just a Friday Pipedream
Shaan