I've been using Vista since it came out, and to tell you the truth I haven't found it as annoying as it's made out to be -- and I develop with UAC still turned on :)

The Tweakguides site has a nice writeup of Vista annoyances, and how to resolve them:

1. Constantly changing folder views - how to stop the folder view switching from details to large icons semi-randomly when you're in the file explorer.
2. Nagging UAC prompts - not that there's anything wrong with it :)
3. Constant hard drive activity - configure super fetch, indexing, defragmenting, malware scanning. I didn't realise the defragmenter still ran weekly.
4. Vista has bad driver support - well that's really the device manufacturer's fault...
5. Vista is a memory hog - I didn't understand what SuperFetch did before this.
6. Drive space keeps shrinking - shadow copies, restore points and other stuff that fills up your drive.
7. Windows Photo Gallery freezes - haven't had this problem myself.
8. Vista's eye candy is a performance drain - not as bad as they say, really.
9. Vista is loaded with DRM - huh?

I haven't run into many of these problems myself, but I've picked up a few interesting things reading this article.

Kirk