What differences can I expect with Vista...

Moving from Win98/WinME?
A few I know of:

• Pressing Ctrl + Alt + Del doesn't instantly bring up Task Manager/Close Program box, it brings up a funky panel first.
• Aero + flip 3d + gadgets + other eye candy
• Completely different software (IE7 instead of 5, WMP 11 instead of 9, FF3 instead of 2 etc)

They're just the obvious ones that hit me when I used it - but as it's mine I'm gonna delve a little deeper than I have thus far and tinker a bit

 

You can bypass the annoying panel from ctrl+alt+del by right clicking on the taskbar and selecting Task Manager that way.

The procedure for changing many settings is annoyingly elongated. For example, there's an entirely new interface for changing desktop background, shell theme, screensaver, and system style. Thankfully, though, you can access the classic version... after going through the new version to get the link. (There may be an easier way to find it, but I do not know of this method should it exist.)

Special files are a pain in the rear to find. For example, the brushes for GIMP or the bookmarks and other user data for Firefox are not where you'd think they should be. In fact, I had to consult Google just to figure out where to install my imported bookmarks file for Firefox. (Note that I'm using Firefox 2, though.)

That's about all I can think of at the moment, as it's been a long time since I used Windows 98. There are plenty of differences I've spotted from XP to Vista, but they probably wouldn't apply to you.

 

Or you can press ctrl-shift-Esc to bring up the Task Manager directly, which is what I do.

I agree, but this issue can be largely mitigated by making use of the text search box in the control panel. For example, just click in the search box and type "mouse" or "bluetooth" or "network" or whatever you want to get the relevant parts of the control panel.

 

I can't wait - I'm practically sitting on the windowsill waiting for the courier!

 

Didn't know about CTRL+SHIFT+ESC. +rep

 

There are several things in Vista I have really liked.

Superfetch, which looks like it is eating up all your RAM, is in fact putting all your RAM to good use by caching things you use frequently in it. I have noticed definite performance increases from that.

I also find Vista does a better job of running tasks in the background than XP or 2k, and that it multitasks much better with similar hardware.

Vista's search is much improved and I find the location bar in the new Windows Explorer handy. The ShadowCopy feature, which keeps older revisions of files you're working on, is also handy. It's saved me a couple times.

I jumped in to Vista 64 feet first when it was announced (built a new dual core 4GB RAM system at the time and had XP on it for a bit while testing some things out) and have since updated to SP1 and a quad core with 8GB RAM as my desktop. Got a new Vista 64 laptop on the way now and I have to say that my experience with Vista has been very positive.

It's been fast, completely reliable (not a single OS crash), and aside from some rearranged things, easy to get used to. I'm finding I enjoy it more than I do using my XP, Ubuntu or OSX systems and I have a number of friends who have also had positive experiences with it. I think the bad rep it gets is exaggerated too, obviously.

This isn't to say it's perfect (no OS, especially a "new" one, is), there have been issues with transfer speeds that I even ran in to (which were widely discussed) but I hardly see those now, between SP1 and the Unibrain drivers for FireWire 800 I'm getting all the speed I should out of peripherals.

 

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  I'm pretty sure that's controlled by a setting, and that by default Crtl+Alt+Delete does indeed bring up Task Manager in XP/Vista. At least it has on all three home XP/Vista's I've tried. It can be configured to bring up a funky panel instead, as the Windows 2000/XP machines at my school do, but by default it should function as it does in Win98. However, the Task Manager is more more robust and useful in 2000/XP/Vista - don't know how powerful it was in ME since I never used ME.
  
  There's not really a whole lot of difference between 98 and XP's interface so long as you use Classic Mode in the Control Panel. Network Neighborhood becomes *checks* My Network Places, but it's a pretty intuitive switch. Vista changes a bit more interface-wise, such as how to change desktop background, but isn't that far off from 98 or XP. It also drops the Run button from the Start menu by default, though that can be turned back on.
  
  Actually probably the biggest change/improvement from 98 to XP/Vista is that if you open up, say, 17 Explorer windows, they'll only take up one place on the taskbar instead of the 17 they'll take in 98 (which only increases with more being opened). Saves a whole lot of time that you have to spend browsing the taskbar or closing 17 individual windows in 98.

 

ME was basicly the same as 98 on most fronts. I've already changed the control panel, but I might put it back. I was just looking for a quick fix for my wifi - I was getting 2kbps last night. Rebooted routers and now I'm back to 190+.
Didn't know that about the grouping in the taskbar - sounds like a nice feature I'll never use! I use firefox: Tabs > Windows!