The car analagy.

Most people want to get from U to B via S and don't want the car: to steer via Firewire, to talk to them as though they are idiots, nor to crash occasionally.

PC's are complex (some say MS has 1 million man-years invested on Windows XP and looking at all they ripped-off or bought that figure is a bit on the low side) but most people want their PC to "just do what they want it to do fer gawd's sake"

I do! But I may tinker as a separate issue and hobby.

Video editing and registry tweeks are not mutually exclusive, but a million miles apart.

The starter question was - what has Vista got that is worth it? What is the must have? the answer will become apparent in 6 years time.