as with all microsoft systems, vista is also not fail-proof... the BSOD screen is still there to welcome you if you do anything silly like install a software which is not compatible.
The important thing is that vista is a good experience with superb graphics.. so if u have the machine to run it then u should try it out.. those who talk about not using it are fools who haven't even tried it out yet.. just repeating talks of other idiots.. unless you are a company where you can't take risk with ur systems should u wait else upgrade.
regarding tips.. i like this interesting feature of resizing icons on desktop or any other window just by holding down the Ctrl key and scrolling the mouse wheel... u can resize to various sizes... try it out.