"It’s way, way, way too early to be making decisions about an OS upgrade that’s nearly a year away, but Dwight Silverman has some preliminary thoughts in a well-written review entitled Vista’s nifty, but it’s not irresistible:
I’ve been playing with the latest test version of Vista for several weeks and spent some time at CES getting questions answered by Microsoft. I’ve not yet seen a feature that made me sit up and say, “Wow, I must have that.”
Read the rest here
I think Vista is a release for developers to exploit and build on, to bring us some innovative applications and experiences to really take advantage of it. The great things for me is the new Windows Media Player with the Album Art in Library and the new MCE as you mentioned. I love the new components such as Windows Calendar and Photo Library, they really are needed features in Windows when it comes to handling information and digital memories. And thats just the tip of the ice berg, I will have more in my preview to be posted next week on Windows Connected
Teching It Easy 
yup for me, but i need a copy to get it on too and test it.