Even though this will come as a shock to no one, recent benchmark tests show that Xp still on average beat out Vista in performance out of sleep mode.  After cold boots the performance boost was minimal but still begs the question how can the newest Operating System be slower than its predecessor. 

"XP operating system remained faster than Vista SP1 in 61% of the operations grouped in a consumer test suite, and faster than Vista SP1 in 46% of the operations in the business-oriented head-to-head."

That may give pause for those of you thinking of switching your xp machine to vista, if its capable.  For those of you that already have Vista you can rejoice that the new sp1 for Vista helps streamline the operating system.  On average with the new service pack, Vista operated on average 60% faster than non sp1 vista machines.  It may not allow vista users to stop the jeers from XP users about performance, its a step in the right direction. 

If nothing else Microsoft has taken away most manufacturers licenses for xp, forcing them to use Vista this january.  It is rumored that after XP SP3 microsoft will stop patching xp as well.  Microsoft seems to be in a hurry to retire XP and pave a new future of Vista only.