[bunderbunder]

XP had a very, very long run, and I think that people tend to mostly remember the time period when Vista was out but they were sticking to XP, which had stabilized pretty well by then. Recency bias and all that. Also, at this point it's easy to just be nostalgic for when Microsoft regarded Windows as an operating system rather than a vehicle for delivering advertisements to a captive audience.

The initial rollout, though, was frustrating for users who were beset by hardware and software compatibility issues, confused by a significantly altered user interface, and still experiencing the blue screens they had been told that XP would banish.