You'll remember I'm somewhat against Windows Vista for any number of reasons. Most of these have to do with DRM and the theory that, "What's mine should stay mine."
This here:
http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html - provides what is probably the best analysis I've seen to date of Vista's DRM usage, and covers slowdown, top-down control, and crippling features. Give it a read.
Yeah, and in the meantime, I'm off to unload the latest batch of lumber from the car. And my guts, which still hate me.