Please show me where I once mentioned XP. Go ahead, I'll wait....
Can't find it? Must be because I suggested Win7, not XP. 7 IS superior to Vista in just about every way. It is faster, more stable, and vastly easier to use.
Although, there are many many people who would disagree with your implication that Vista is superior to XP. XP is still faster (including better multi-core support than both Vista and Win7), uses less resources,and lacks annoying pop-up dialogue boxes. Seeing as the only upgrade I noticed in Vista was aesthetics, I consider it a waste of time. If it comes on your machine, and you only use it for normal, casual computing, Vista is perfectly livable, especially since the release of SP1. But given the choice, I would go Win7>XP>Vista. I certainly wouldn't spend the money to switch any of my computers over.
And seeing as Microsoft will be releasing Windows 7 just 2.5 years after Vista, it would seem that very few people share your train of thought.