After a month and a half, my general impression is that the stuff that they moved behind the scenes (advanced program options and such) work much better in Vista than in XP, meaning it is both less cluttered and more efficient. But heaven help you if any of those things break on you, as it is much harder to try and fix problems in Vista (mostly due to things being out of sight).
Michael: Jodie, how's my schedule look for today? Jodie: You've got a conference and dinner party at the Japanese Embassy regarding wildlife protection. Michael: Oh, yeah...sorry, but I'll have to cancel that. I'm heading out to save America!