The bigger picture is that as a planet we need to use less, not more. Progress is an OS that needs less ram, less power (Aero GPU), less space and a smaller carbon footprint. Instead we have the opposite. There is NO NEED to move forward for forwards sake. A pretty interface is no excuse for manufacturing more ram, bigger power supplies etc etc. The code CAN be written efficiently, look at grc.com and see what can be done in machine code.. Now I know this goes against the tech geek thing, and I am one, but Vista is an upgrade to make money. It cares nothing about the planet, all it does is make you feel good. Now sombody do it right, make a good OS on 256mb ram and a TNT level of graphics, then we can stop throwing away all this stuff.
If anybody says Linux I'll scream