Yes, VISTA is slow if used in the default mode, but there are lots of things that can be done to turn off 90% of the bells and whistles that really aren't needed and in my case, not wanted, so that VISTA runs as fast as XP. Start by getting rid of the transparencies that let you look through screen pages. Stupid, annoying, and a big, big drag on resources.
Bump that, and Aero too...