Vista is not even the best OS that microsoft has made. Vista is much slower in many aspects, not better. It has many more flaws than XP... But we wont go into that...
I have vista and have found it no better than XP. I just don't get it, they spend years and years developing vista so I'm told and it's hardly any different from XP. I mean who actually relies only on windows defender to protect their PC? I certainly wouldn't leave that up to windows, when I actually stopped using Windows Defender and starting using Spyware Doctor it found all sorts of nasties, tracking, adware and even key-logging malware - what did Defender ever find? Nothing! I'm glad other companies are starting to take on Microsoft, they need the competition to wake them up!
Microsoft windows in itself is a brand and comparing b/w two of its products is a tedious job to do, both are nice to work on, though they are different from each other in many aspects in providing some extra utilities but i found both interesting to work on. You can visit buyoriginalms.com/windows.aspx to see the comparison b/w both.
I love it, but I've done a fresh install about 3 times for about 2 years time wise. I just back everything up on a external so it's no big deal, but it does run my system down after about six months +. I would'nt go back to XP, it would feel old., vista just feels fresh.
Vista is more stable than XP but I hate when many programs and games don't work on Vista I think the best way is installing two systems Vista and XP together
Consider XP or a linux build like Debian/Ubuntu as an alternative to Vista. Jury's out on the most recent Windows OS project.
Vista looks good and the GUI is cool, however I got several problems. Back in 2007 when I got my 64-bit version, I so much difficulty find working drivers for the 64-bits. In general I am satisfied, but I had some technical problems. The file system is not working properly. I was not able to erase some files. They are on my HD forever. I got some small important issues. Too long to mention them all.
My laptop has 3 GB of RAM too, with a dual-core AMD64 chip (it's a fairly nice Toshiba rig). It came with Vista Home Premium, which ran like crap with more than a couple of apps open. I never intended on keeping Vista on it... really only left it on there for a couple of days to see what it was like on this hardware. As soon as I needed to get back to doing real work, the Ubuntu install CD went into the drive and the hard drive got wiped. I haven't run Windows on my personal systems or servers in several years, and don't intend on going back anytime soon. I somehow doubt Windows 7 will change my mind. Aside from usability considerations, I earn too much using various Linux distro and Solaris to ever go back to professional Windows work.
Even if you're only dual-booting, try something else. Worst case scenario: you'll be increasing your skills and hence your value in the market.