[dangel]

Vista hardware profiles are automatically created:

"You can still work with these hardware profiles as you could in Windows XP.
For example, you can disable specific services for a specific hardware
profile. This can be accomplished using the steps listed below.

1. Click Start, All Programs, Accessories then Administrative Tools.
2. Click the Services option.
3. Right click a service that you want to disable and click Properties.
4. Click the Log On tab.
5. The available hardware profiles will be listed at the bottom of the
window.
6. Select the appropriate profile from the list and click the Disable
button.
7. Click OK.
Now when Vista starts using the hardware profile, the specific service you
selected above will not be started."

And yes, it is faster, more robust and certainly no more difficult to use (in many ways it's easier e.g. i no longer have to hunt in my start menu) than XP. There are a myriad of improvements throughout the OS if only one bothers to look/try.