I always think that Vista was alright, it just took a bullet for every version of Windows that followed. It introduced overdue changes to many long-standing Windows conventions, changes that still stand now. If Windows 7 had been the next one after XP then everyone would have hated that instead.
If we weren’t a bunch dickheads who love fiddling with things, and instead just wanted a sensible OS that worked, we’d all be using Debian on everything.