The biggest problem is that Vista uses openAL for audio which most sound cards don't currently have hardware drivers for.
Actually, Vista uses it's own software renderer for audio, with no hooks for hardware acceleration. OpenAL, however, is allowed to pass right through. This really only screws over Creative and EAX, who have created a DX-->OpenAL workaround for now.
it's always interesting to hear 'hardcore' users discuss simplification as if it was a bad thing.
In the case of Vista, simplification often means 2 or 3 more clicks than before, coupled with new paths to get the same info, some of which are NOT sensible, wether you're new to computers or not.