This is pretty much my feeling as well. On one hand I am very thankful for it because it pushes the industry forward and keeps the new tech coming, but for my own use I want all the speed and responsiveness that I can get out my hardware. If the operating system is limiting me (and with Vista it is), there is a problem.
I would agree that Vista is more stable and more secure than XP (so far.) But there are 100 little things about Vista that bug the hell out of me.
“What Intel giveth, Microsoft taketh away.”