The general acceptance of Windows XP went something like this:
Years 0 - 3: "Windows XP is awful, it won't play my games, won't play on older systems, is slower than previous versions, uses too many wizards, hides all my settings, makes it too hard to find stuff and consumes too much system resources. Windows 98 rulez!!!"
Years 3 - 6: "Eh, Windows XP ain't all that bad"
Years 7 and on: "Oh my god Windows XP is the greatest thing since sliced bread!!! Windows Vista is awful, it won't play my games, won't play on older systems, is slower than previous versions, uses too many wizards, hides all my settings, makes it too hard to find stuff and consumes too much system resources. Windows XP rulez!!!"
See a pattern here?
Here's a pretty accurate, unbias look at Windows Vista, and even a comparison of how its early adoption compares to XP's early adoption:
http://www.tweakguides.com/VA_1.html