This one is easy for me. First of all what is the average PC footprint out there in use probably, and I'm guessing a 2 - 3 year old PC running at 1.8 to 2.2 Ghz. The average graphics capability is somewhere between 64 and 128 MB. So, the average home user just isn't going to go out and upgrade this year. And, every major game title this year (with maybe a couple of Microsoft games being the exception) will be XP based because Vista game sales in 2007 will just not be there. In short the hardware and software entry point for the early adapters has to come down. And the last time I checked, unless there was a clearly defined technological advantage to new technology adoption, businesses wait, and stay with what they already know works. So, everything with large sales appeals for technology suppliers is XP based. Having said that developers have to know how to roll out Vista apps as the installed base of Vista machines increases. It is my belief that 2008 will be the telling year to know whether Vista will be quickly adopted or a slower paced more gradual conversion.  

I like some, some not. I just really wish that they hadn't moved shell locations and dialogs around. For us power users who *know* where literally everything is in XP, Vista is like the difference between XP and OS X. I know what to search for, but I shouldn't have to search for anything.

I DO like the driver support.. things seem to just work like they should. It is pretty fast and feels smooth. Feels even better with WB Vista.
I'm definitely buying it sometime for at least one desktop. I already have the express upgrade for the laptop.

No plans for Vista for me, i just built this pc 6 months ago and it is fully capable of running Vista Ultimate, but nothing has really made me go "wow i gotta have that". animated wallpaper, spinning and twisting windows..no thanks, i can do what i need to do with XP. If it isn't broke.. why Vista it?

I'll be runnig Vista Business for a while on one box and will migrate to Ultimate as I upgrade.  The other boxes in the house may stay at one of the lower versions depending on fundage.

Truth be told, I am more excited by Windows Home Server and my upgrade path may depend on whether it supports XP.  If it doesn't I'll upgrade to vista sooner to gain it's benefits.

I've been using Vista since christmas-ish on my laptop I got in early December, and I must say I'm very impressed by the responsiveness of the UI (Aero or WB) and the configuration options are in many ways alot more powerful than in XP.  The seperation of the administrative tasks and UAC (i think thats the name) is a great step to helping secure the OS, especially from a user perspective.  I think its a great blend of power and user-friendliness that will definitely be a good selling point to those buying computers for the first time. 

XP PRO SP2 on desktop (built from ground up by me 2002, occ. upgrades)
XP Home on laptop (Sony factory-inst. 2005)
Both run and do all I "need" at the moment.
Obj. Desktop and SDC give me all the "wants".
I like being current and "keeping up with the Joneses", but
new desktop + new laptop + supported peripherals & software =
no food, no clothes, no heat, no school, no car, no insurance ...
So, no Vista in forseeable future.
Just too expensive.
"Wants" vs "Needs"

I think most people will at least wait until this Fiji service pack is released towards the end of the year to see if there is anything worthwhile. A lot of the scrapped features in the initial Vista launch will be added back in with Fiji. If you take out the GUI redesign, including Aero and whatnot (which many people will not like anyway), Microsoft hasn't offered enough to make Vista a worthwhile upgrade, especially for that price.

As a student in art school, I have to wait for companies like Adobe and Quark to make sure their products run smooth. (I really don't want a Mac ) Then, of course, I'm waiting to see what else comes out for Vista, including what Stardock produces. For as much as I love having everything skinned, I don't think there will be enough difference in Vista skinning and XP skinning to warrant the upgrade. XP works fine for that and more, so I, and probably most people, will wait for a new computer in the near to distant future to get the upgrade.

...I'm thinking about going back to DOS...

  abacus?