First off, I purchased 2Gb for my Vista box and let's just say Vista is quite happy with 3Gb. I'd go so far as to say it's definitely much more usable when it's not constantly redlining its mem usage (at 1 Gb).
Vista introduces a new easy evaluation rating for your hardware, the "Windows Experience Index." This number (and set of sub-ratings) gives you an idea of how your computer's performing. I haven't looked into it too much, but it's not out of 5 and I don't think it's out of 10. The overall number is the lowest score you get out of the categories of Processor, Memory (RAM), Graphics, Gaming graphics, and Primary hard disk. My numbers (prior to the +2Gb RAM) were, respectively, 5.4, 4.5, 4.7, 4.2, and 5.7 giving me a Windows Experience Index of 4.2. After the extra RAM, my RAM number, 4.5, went up to 5.5 giving me a Windows Experience Index of 4.2 (the lowest number hadn't changed).
The idea of one number you can look at and see if your computer's up to snuff is a pretty neat idea, really, since you can ask your mom or dad what their number is and go and help them up it. It seems like it'd be a good thing for game manufacturers to say "You need at least at 3.0 to play this game," too. What the number really means is wholly unclear, plus lame. So, for doofuses, good, for me, opaque (like the Vista borders).
With that said and done, I figured it was time to take another tentative step and install a non-MS program that I know was developed with DX9 on this Vista/DX10 system. WorldWind's wiki says to disable UAC to install & run WorldWind but, even though I may not like UAC personally, it's in Vista and circumventing it instead of trying to live with it also circumvents the whole Vista experiment I'm doing. Cancel or Allow UAC - "Cancel or Allow?" Unfortunately, Allow.
There are some issues with UAC (User Access Control) that can be gotten around by installing an app outside C:\Program Files. I tried it both ways and the result?
... and no launch of the app. Just that. Whee. Time to download the sources and install Visual C# Express and build WW myself. (Yes, I know, world of hurt, etc.)
Vista doesn't "crash" so much as catch itself crashing and restart Explorer. At least once a day.
Also for you, an article:
The Most Annoying Things About Windows Vista, PC World, 02/2007
The new iTunes + QuickTime (7.1.5) doesn't solve the previous issue, where any QT using app drops to Vista Basic UI. Uninstalling only QT makes iTunes unuseable. Thanks Microsoft Apple someone (probably me, for "trying out" Vista in the first place.
That brings me back to the whole wtf about Vista - If apps you want to use cause you to diddle with settings instead of using the app, it's the equivalent of a home-grown computer system, a less interesting networked uber executor, a "linux" if you will.
The Vista verdict still remains sliding slowly to Cancel. I have ordered 2 more GB of RAM (5300, not the 4200 that came with the system, and not the 11600 that in theory the motherboard can handle) and hopefully that'll allow me to have more than 5 tabs in IE and Firefox open at once without lag when switching between them. Yes, seriously. I've installed like 6 non-MS apps on this machine, Adobe Lightroom, Trillian, Mozilla Firefox, Eclipse 3.3M5, SecureCRT, and 7-zip. I haven't installed more for fear of being further disappointed.