(as a mature OS on appropriate hardware)

Windows Vista Ultimate SP2 x64 is the good version of Vista that almost nobody tried. If you judge it by the RTM disaster, you’re missing the story. It laid the foundation for Windows 7 (which was essentially Vista SP3 with a taskbar re-skin). In its final form, it’s a stable, secure, attractive 64-bit OS — just 15 years too late. “Vista SP2 x64 is to Windows 7 what Windows 8.1 is to Windows 10 — the forgotten beta that actually worked.”