As a member of Windows Feedback Panel, I beta tested from Beta 2 through RC2 and made some tweaks along the way. I installed more RAM and a 256MB graphics card and checked that all the necessary drivers were either available or included with Vista. I chose an ATI graphics card because less issues existed than with nVidea.
I am now the proud owner of the free copy of Vista Ultimate Microsoft sent me for my participation in the consumer beta program and love it's features!
I thoroughly recommend Vista, but strongly suggest prospective buyers read the multiple sources available for compatible hardware and software and be prepared for the installation of Vista.
I will say that many PC manufacturers have supplied machines with Vista installed that function very poorly. They have dropped the ball, but Microsoft gets the blame.
Lay off Microsoft for a while everyone and look at the poor showing by the so called "Microsoft Partners."