So I used Vista for the first time last night, and I really liked it. I think MS has a good thing going on with it (I am apparently in the minority thinking this though) and since it is still pretty new, I am excited to see what it will evolve into.
I think the biggest obstacle with users getting acquainted to Vista will be the effort to try to do things like they did in 98, NT, ME, 2K, and XP. I started with this mindset, and had to try to train my mind to "back out" of what I knew and where things should be. Once I did that, I started to learn quickly.
The UAC is great. I don't see what peoples' complaints are about it. How is it different from a normal confirmation dialog for the user??? Come on. If you don't like it, turn it off. Personally, I like to have a "bottom line" of what is going on on my system.
I used it on a new laptop, so driver compatibility was not an issue, and I think that the people who are preaching about it being a huge issue are over-exaggerating.
The UI was amazing. Some of the windows and dialogs were not what I expected, but that was because I came in with XP-like expectations.
I like how the "My Documents" replacement is structures. I can see how people could possibly forget where they put something, but that is where the new and improved search functionality will come in. I haven't had the chance to use the search though.
I also haven't had a chance to use gadgets yet. I will play with that this weekend.
Most popular software seems to be Vista ready. I installed a base system with Adobe Acrobat, AVG Free Edition, and OpenOffice with no problems.
I am officially on the Vista bandwagon.