Free Vista To Windows 7 Transformation Pack Download

After windows 7 beta has been released windows vista interface looks too boring and bulky, In my opinion in I would say windows 7 is an upgraded version of windows vista with less bug, better look and feel and user acceptability.

Today we will tell you about another free transformation pack to transform vista to windows 7, it will change boring look of vista to windows 7 fresh new look.
Seven Remix is a completely free transformation pack which lets you enjoy the look and feel of windows 7 very easily. Seven Remix transformation pack is designed by niwradsoft

Seven Remix transformation pack is made to work on following versions of windows vista, Windows Vista (all editions, SP1), Windows 2008 (all editions, SP1), All Language Versions

Note: This transformation pack is not supported on 64-bit versions of Windows Vista

Download Seven Remix Transformation Pack For Windows Vista

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Analyze and Manage Hard Drive Space with WinDirStat

There are a few utilities built into Vista and XP that allow you to monitor hard drive health, like our previous article on how to generate a full system health report. We've also covered third party tools like DriveSpacio, and today we'll walk through using WinDirStat to visualize hard drive space.

Installation
Installing WinDirStat is as easy at it gets… the one thing to point out is that if running on legacy systems you want to make sure to check ANSI as a core component.



Using WinDirStat
When first launching WinDirStat you get the option to select All or Individual drives, you can even choose to scan a single folder. For this example I will go ahead and scan my local drive.

While scanning you can view the progress. Check out the cool Pac-Man animations! I am such a sucker for geek nostalgia =)

The scan tool a bit under a minute, and you end up with a nice graphical representation of the files on your hard drive.

WinDirStat has three sections the Directory List, Extension List, and the graphically crazy colored Treemap. The colors on the extension list correspond with the location of the type of file on the Treemap.

Use different view options to change the look of the utility or amount of data shown in the Treemap. When you mouse over a certain section on the Treemap you can choose to clean that file up, look at its properties, or open the directory it is in via Windows Explorer.

Of course there are customizable settings, here is an example of changing the Treemap color patterns.


Conclusion
The Treemap provides the ability to easily go to each directory or individual file on a hard drive. It is also a very nice graphical representation of each type of file extension. If you have ever wondered what files are taking up so much space this will neatly show you the culprit and allow them to be cleaned directly from the GUI. WinDirStat will work on all versions of Windows from 95 up to Vista. This is great for legacy systems still operation that need maintenance.

Download WinDirStat For All Versions Of Windows

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Hide Outlook 2007 When Minimized

Some days you might have so many applications running you are not able to keep track of them all. One of the programs bound to be taking up space is Outlook. Today we will cover a quick tip that will allow more space on your task bar when you have Outlook Minimized.

You may have noticed that by default when you minimize Outlook it still shows in the taskbar.


To stop it from showing up right click on the Outlook icon in the notification area next to the clock then select Hide When Minimized.

Another notification balloon will pop up notifying the change and how to change it back if needed.


Now there will be additional space on the Taskbar for other programs. Now you can maximize Outlook by Double Clicking the notification icon or clicking on the notification pop up if that is enabled.

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Make vista like XP

Some say 'Why even upgrade if your don't like the look of Vista?'. Well, with Vista being installed in most new computers, we don't have the option of switching back to XP.

My dad got a new laptop and the first thing he wanted to do was to install XP. So I gave it a try, but Vista was much to smart to let XP's setup program run.

I told my dad that the best way to install XP, would be to reformat the hard drive and do a clean install of XP.

He decided that it would be best to leave it alone and to just deal with it, since Vista was included in the price of the laptop.

So I tinkered with the settings in my dad's computer, to try to get it more user friendly for him.If you're having a hard time getting use to Vista's new look or just want to speed up your computer, try these simple fixes to make Vista look more like XP.

To make Windows Vista look more like Windows XP:

1. Right-click on the desktop.

2. Choose 'Personalize'.

3. Choose 'Themes'

4. Select 'Windows Standard' or 'Windows Classic'

5. Click the OK button.

Wait for the changes to take effect.

As you can see, this also changes the taskbar and Start Menu icons.

These steps not only bring back the look of XP, but they also speed up an older PC that's struggling to keep up with Vista's heavy use of graphics.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Janean_Wilson

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Vista tips and trick, increase your gaming performance in 10 way

Although Windows Vista is a great operating system with tons of great features and application, when it comes to gaming, its performance is still lagging behind Windows XP. One of the reasons is that most of the current games are not designed for Windows Vista which utilizes the new DirectX 10 technology. Another reason is that Windows Vista has a lot of activities running in the background that interferes with the gaming resources.

In this article, I have compiled 10 useful Windows Vista tips and tricks to help you improve your gaming performance.1) Upgrade your hardware

This includes the RAM, CPU and graphics card. For gaming in Vista, make sure that you own a dual core CPU, 2 GB RAM and a DirectX 10 compliant graphics card.

2) Disable System Restore

Vista's System Restore helps you to backup your files and provide a restoration in the event that the OS crash. Although a useful feature, it can slow down your system to a great extent. To disable it, click on Start -> Control Panel -> System and Maintenance -> System and remove the tick next to any drives that you have protected.

3) Turn off hibernation

If you don't use the hibernation feature, you can disable it and recover around a gigabyte of hard disk space. To do this, open up Run and type "powercfg - H off"

4) Disable the Sidebar

While this is a great eye-candy, it takes up a lot of resources. To disable the sidebar, open Control Panel -> Windows Sidebar Properties. Uncheck the "Start Sidebar When Windows Start".

5) Move swap file to another drive/partition

Swap file is a temporary file used to store data for future use. If you have another drive, you can speed up Vista a bit by moving the swap file to that drive. Or if you are using only one drive, you can set up a partition to store your swap file.

* Click on Start -> Control Panel -> System and Maintenance -> System

* Choose Advanced system settings from the top left hands side

* Make sure that the Advanced tab is selected

* In the Performance section click Settings

* Click on the Advanced tab

* In the Virtual Memory section click Change

* Uncheck "Automatically manage paging file sizes for all drives".

* Click on the partition you want to use as a swap partition, select Custom Size, and set the new sizes of your swap file. The recommended size is 2.5 times your RAM size, and my choice is to set the Initial Size and Maximum Size values equal, to get a fixed size swap file.

* Click on the primary partition, check "No paging file" and click Set. This is to prevent Vista from placing a swap file on your primary partition.

* Restart the computer

6) Add 3D sound

The DirectX 10 architecture changed the ways sound is processed in gaming. If you are playing Windows XP games that use hardware 3D audio effects, most likely you will not hear any sound at all. To overcome this, you can use Creative's ALchemy tool. Download and install the ALchemy tool from Creative website. This tool will pipe any DirectSound calls in Windows XP games to OpenAL to give it a full 3D audio hardware support.

7) Turn off Vista's Indexing Engine

The Vista's Indexing Engine is a useful tool that allows you to search for files easily. However during gaming, it is running in the background and takes up resources that affect the gaming performance. To turn it off, go to Control Panel -> Indexing Option. Click Modify -> Show All Locations to remove any drives or folders that you don't want to be indexed.

8) Change your Startup program

To prevent any unused programs from loading during the boot up process and take up your system resources, you can change your startup program by typing "msconfig" into the Run box. Click the startup tab and uncheck the box next to any software that you don't want to run during startup.

9) Use Ready Boost

This is a new feature in Vista that uses an external USB flash drive as a cache to store frequently access data. It is said to be able to increase the performance up to 10 times. Insert in a USB 2.0 flash drive into your USB port. In the window that pops up, click on the ReadyBoost tab. Select "use this device".

10) Disable SuperFetch

Another new feature of Vista that utilizes all your free memory to store frequency accessed data. While it is a good feature, it is actually causing more harm to your game performance. Your game needs a lot of free memory to load maps, process AI and so on, while the SuperFetch is constantly taking up free memory to store data. To disable the SuperFetch, open Run and type "services.msc". Select "Stop/Disable SuperFetch", and then reboot the computer.

Damien Oh is a computer consultant with great experience in computer technology. He shares his passion, expertise and knowledge in his blog Make Tech Easier. You can find tons of information and resources on computer related stuffs. To find out more secrets and free information on computer technology, check out Make Tech Easier.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Damien_Oh

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Block Or Allow Programs Your Child Uses With Parental Controls

This is another installment in using the Parental Controls feature in Vista. I figured this week I would cover these controls and other utilities we can use to help protect the kids. At the end of this week or beginning of next I will put together everything and do one comprehensive article that covers everything. As this series continues I invite you to let us know of other tricks and or software you use for this.

So far we have covered Web Filtering and Time allowed on the PC. Again open Control Panel and click on Set up parental controls for any user.


You will then be greeted with the screen to select the user you want to control.

After selecting the account again you will want to verify Parental Controls are activated. This time under Window Settings we want to click on “Allow and block specific programs”.

Next just click on the selection for you to allow what programs to be used.

When you are done just click on OK twice to get back to the desktop. Now it is set! I really like how simple Parental Controls are to set up. Now, when your child is logged into their profile if they try to access an off limits program they will receive this pop up message.

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Top 5 Ways to Speed Up Vista Home Loading and Stability

There are two types of Vista Home versions- Vista Home Basic and Vista Home Premium. The Home Basic is for those with a more conservative budget who will not really use much of their computers except for checking e-mails or news browsing through the web. The Home Premium edition targets a more broad audience as it allows various ways to create, view and edit multimedia. The latter also has that Aero desktop experience that looks very hip!

But whether you are using a Vista Home Basic or a Vista Home Premium, you may want to speed its performance up a tad bit more due to the fact that it is noticeable slower to use this operating system compared to the others you have used before. So how do you speed up Vista Home? Here are 5 ways to do so:

1. Use the MSCONFIG option

This allows you to disable unwanted and unnecessary programs that load whenever you boot up your Vista Home. The fastest way to do this is by following the instructions below:

Press the Windows button on your keyboard, + "R." A pop-up will show, just type "msconfig" which will lead you to "System Configurations." Select the Startup tab Uncheck the applications you do not want launching with your Vista. The more you check, the faster the start up will be.

2. Disable Sidebar

Vista Home has a quaint feature called Side Bar that gives you easy access to installed gadgets. However, if this seemingly cool feature is disabled, overall functioning of Vista Home will increase. This frees up processing power.

3. Remove Bloatware

If your computer is new, chances are, it has some programs installed to it that came with the PC or laptop. Best to check what your computer currently has installed. Once you have seen applications that you will not use, don't hesitate to uninstall them as this frees up memory.

4. Use Good Ol' Disk Cleanup

Using disk cleanup allows you to delete the temporary files, temporary internet files and compress old files, freeing space on your (C:) Drive. This is a feature that has not changed much since the dawn of Windows and it is as reliable as before as it is now.

5. Use the ReadyBoost option

This is one mighty nice feature of Windows Vista Home. It can use an storage space as a memory cache on a portable storage device to speed up your Vista Home performance. It basically gives your computer a fast memory in retrieving information. You use this by:

Plugging in the thumb drive. Follow these links: Start, Computer, right click on the removable storage device icon, select Properties. Click the ReadyBoost Tab which will show so long as you're device is eligible for this feature, Choose Use this Device and specify the amount of space you want to allocate for this. Click OK.

Do note that although it may have some bad reviews, Vista Home is a really good operating system, you just have to learn where to tweak it a bit to get the results you want.

Kris Mainieri is an accomplished Computer Tech focusing on innovative and unique ways to help people take their computing performance to a whole new level free.

For a limited time, you can claim the "Secrets That Most People Will Never Know About Computers" e-book absolutely free Windows XP Tweaks CLICK HERE!

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Create a Shortcut to the Stored User Names and Passwords Dialog in Windows

If you've ever saved a password when connecting to a website that requires authentication, for a remote desktop session or a mapped drive, you might have wondered where those passwords are saved. If you are a long time reader, you already know where, but you might be interested in how to create a shortcut directly to the dialog where you can manage those logons.


You can add this into your folder of useful shortcuts… sure, you might not use it every day, but it's good to know how to do it.


Create the Shortcut

Right-click on the desktop and choose New \ Shortcut from the menu.


In the location box, enter in the following command, and then on the next page give the shortcut a helpful name.

rundll32.exe keymgr.dll, KRShowKeyMgr



Once you have the shortcut, you'll want to right-click on it and choose Properties, then click the Change Icon button on the Shortcut tab.


If you change the textbox value to the following file, you can find the matching icon for the shortcut (adjusting if your Windows is installed elsewhere)

C:\Windows\System32\keymgr.dll


Now you should have a nice matching icon…


Which will open up the Stored User Names and Passwords dialog.

Note that you can also use this to backup and restore your saved passwords, and it should work in either Vista or XP.

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Speed up External USB Hard Drives in Windows Vista

if you have an external hard drive that is always plugged into your computer, you can enable write caching to speed up performance significantly when writing to the disk.

Write caching isn't enabled by default for external drives because removable devices could lose data if you unplug them too quickly, so take care when using this setting.
To change this setting, just type Device Manager into the start menu search box, and hit enter.

Browse down to the external hard drive that you wish to enable write caching on, and double click it to open up the properties screen.

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Speed Up SATA Hard Drives in Windows Vista

Windows Vista has built-in support for Serial ATA(SATA) hard drives, but it doesn't automatically enable advanced write caching features. You can speed up your computer by enabling this mode in Device Manager.

You can quickly get to Device Manager by just typing device into the start menu search box. (Or from the command line, devmgmt.msc)
Open the Disk drives section of the tree, and right-click on your hard drive, choosing Properties.

Select the Policies tab, and you should see this dialog:


Click the checkbox for Enable advanced performance, and you are done.

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Speed up Windows Vista Start Menu Search By Limiting Results

The Windows Vista start menu search box is one of my favorite features in Vista, but searching can be pretty slow if you have a lot of personal files, because by default the start menu search also searches files, windows contacts, windows mail, history, and favorites.

You can customize the search results returned in the Start menu search box to only return the results that you want. I personally only want to use the start menu search to pull up applications, so I disabled everything else.

To configure this setting, right click on the Start button and select Properties. Click the Customize button, and you can scroll down to the Search checkboxes.

For best results, change the Search files radio button to "Don't search for files". The start menu is too small to find files anyway. This will speed up searching immensely.

Here's the details on what the other options do:

• Search - Should disable the search entirely, but doesn't seem to remove the search box. (Note: This option is removed in Service Pack 1).
• Search communications - Disables searching through emails and contacts. As far as I can tell, it's only Windows Mail and Windows Contacts right now. I assume other applications will eventually be included here. I disabled this since I don't use either product.
• Search favorites and history - Searches through your IE favorites and browser history.
• Search Files - You can change this to search all files, or just your home directory. Or disable entirely for speed.
• Search Programs - Searches through the start menu and applications.

You can customize to your liking.

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Search Your Internet Explorer Favorites From Within IE in Vista or XP

A freeware utility that will let you search your IE favorites right from within the browser itself.This add-on is called DzSoft Favorites Search, and it's completely free, although it does have one glaring flaw: You can't open up your bookmarks in a new tab, which is something I do all the time. It also seems to be slightly clunky, but since it was originally written for IE 5.0, I guess that's not surprising.


Using the Search Panel
After installation, you'll have access to a new search panel on the left-hand side, which seemed to work well… you can search for a single keyword, multiple, or even the URL.

Show the Toolbar Button

In order to actually get access to that panel, you'll need to make sure that you can see the new button that gets added to the toolbar, but always seemed to be hidden in my testing. Right-click over the buttons and uncheck "Lock the Toolbars"…

Then drag the slider over until you can see the new Favorites Search button. If you still don't see it, use the Customize Command Bar option above and add the button to the toolbar.

You could also get to this bar by holding down the Alt key until you see the menu, and then going to View \ Explorer Bar \ DzSoft Favorites Search, but that's hardly a convenient way to turn it on, so I prefer the button.

There are also a number of options you can change in the drop-down menu:

For instance, the Create "Last Found Items" menu will actually add a folder to your Favorites showing the recently found items that you searched for:

So, if you are always puzzled how to search through your IE bookmarks, this is the add-on for you. Personally I'd stick with using the Vista Search method since it doesn't require any extra software, but this is a decent solution for those of you on XP.

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Microsoft: Give me a Million Dollars to market Windows Vista for you

No, seriously. I’ll do it. One million. That’s a drop in the bucket - 1/500th of what you’re planning on spending.

It’s a crazy idea. It’s insane.

You’ve got your work cut out for you with a mindnumbingly lackluster launch - and the remainder of your media blitz needs to be coherent. You need to begin illustrating Vista’s biggest strengths and benefits:

• The new Start Menu can help you find things faster
• Fast USB sticks can speed up your system instantly
• Program-independent volume control will keep your sounds in check
• The Windows Explorer exposes tons of file metadata
• Parental controls will keep Mom and Dad happy
• Checking for updates and problem solutions has never been easier
• Guided Help takes interactive learning to the next level
• Both wired and wireless network management are smarter
• There’s an infinitely more stable video driver model in place
• Hardware-accelerated eye candy on the desktop is awesome

It’s not just about selling a new operating system, though! You have to let people know where they can find help during this transitional period - when their software and/or hardware might not work like it used to work in XP. If you don’t address those issues head-on, Windows will start bleeding mindshare like never before.

C’mon. If you accept my proposal, I bet I’ll get more press for you than theiap.org did - and I’m guessing you spent more than a mil on that alone. Moreover, I’m guessing that some Macs were used for production. Does your marketing team know Windows intimately - do they know how Vista is relevant for the average user?

And if you don’t bite, maybe an OEM will…

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Microsoft Provides Windows Vista Activation Workaround

Windows activation has been controversial from day one. Tomorrow, my friend Brian Livingston, will demonstrate a simple process that will enable any user to delay Windows Vista activation indefinitely.

WHAT?!

No software to install, no special hardware to buy - Microsoft has provided the activation workaround for you, according to Brian. His webcast is scheduled for tomorrow at 11am PDT (2pm EDT) - and the information will be posted to Windows Secrets at some point shortly after Midnight. I’m highly skeptical, but I also trust Brian to provide accurate information. Did Microsoft set the stage to reverse its activation policies? Only one bit needs to be flipped, apparently - but we must wait with bated breath for the tweak. All of my Vista installs have already been activated, but this is interesting news (nevertheless).

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Windows Vista Challenge

Charlie Owen has issued a challenge, but I’m not quite sure he understands why I’m complaining so much about the UI oversights found in Vista. Mind you, I haven’t said a word about Windows Vista’s Media Center - I haven’t had a chance to play with it extensively yet. Before I respond, I’d like everybody to read Why Vista will mean the end of the Microsoft monolith:

The Vista saga has two interesting lessons for the computer business. It raises, for example, the question of whether this way of producing software products of this complexity has reached its natural limit. Microsoft is an extremely rich, resourceful company - and yet the task of creating and shipping Vista stretched it to breaking point. A lesser company would have buckled under the strain. And yet while Microsoft engineers were trudging through their death march, the open source community shipped a series of major upgrades to the Linux operating system. How can hackers, scattered across the globe, working for no pay, linked only by the net and shared values, apparently outperform the smartest software company on the planet

Challenge?! You can operate an XGL desktop perfectly without having to upgrade your video card first. To add insult to injury, XGL sports infinitely better (and reasonably more) eye candy than Aero does. Windows Vista is hardware hungry, no doubt - and I’m challenging Microsoft’s assertion that Aero is a “breakthrough user experience.”

No, it’s not - Vista’s UI is not breakthrough, Charlie. It’s broken. XGL, on the other hand, is breakthrough - and I find myself wondering how long it’s going to take for someone to port that to OS X. Windows Vista is not revolutionary - it’s evolutionary (barely, at that). A recently releaesd Mandriva Linux 2007 RC1 comes bundled XGL and AIGLX with Compiz, by the way.

Vista is already taking a beating, whether by Apple fanboys from InfoWorld, UAC task forces, or old Latvian women. There is no perfect operating system, and I’m certainly not suggesting that Linux and/or OS X are totally teh shiz. What I am saying, however, is that as far as cohesive, compelling user experiences go - I believe that Vista’s Aero fails (on the whole).

I understand that thousands of people poured their blood, sweat, and tears into pushing Windows Vista out the door - but I started to get impatient two years ago, only to be handed an RC that looked more like a early beta (I said “alpha” earlier, but perhaps that was a little harsh on my part). If Linux (with XGL) and Leopard (with UNO) aren’t challenging Microsoft to take UI more seriously, nothing ever will. In this arena, Windows has already been challenged - and remains truly challenged.

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Windows Vista..What The True?

When I first saw XGL and AIGLX being demonstrated through YouTube videos, I was blown away. I assumed that it would take a monster video card, much like Vista does. However, I found that I could run a full 3D accelerated Linux desktop on Ponzi’s low powered laptop with an average Intel video chipset. Make no mistake: Windows has fierce competition in the marketplace, especially for the masses. Is Linux ready? No, but it’s definitely looking sexier than Windows Vista RC1 these days.

And if you don’t want your desktop to be sexy, you’re in a minority.

I’ve seen several geeks (and countless developers) dismiss the slick nature of the AIGLX demo. “I got seasick from the wavy windows” is tantamount to saying that “the way Windows works is good enough for me and everybody else.” It’s not like those XGL options are hard-coded into the operating system, folks - it’s fully customizable, fully tweakable, and fully usable. My original complaint stemmed from the way Microsoft has been actively touting Vista as a “breakthrough” experience - and until I saw that video, I couldn’t point to something to put the haphazard implementation of Aero (and the shim-ridden Windows shell) in its place.
Uh, Flip3D is borderline useless - not half as usable as OS X’s Expose (which a forthcoming Microsoft mouse will fully emulate, and I’ll report on that soon enough). I get more out of the free TaskSwitchXP than I do from Flip3D! Vista’s user experience has been further rendered generic when it’s demonstrated side-by-side with the full range of today’s AIGLX features. I’m not saying that the average user would want to use (or could use) half of the eye candy that’s shown in the new Linux desktop, but that doesn’t make AIGLX / XGL any less exciting to see. Linux with a 3D desktop, much like OS X, is fun to use - and Windows Vista is just. feh.

And if you’re not excited by desktop advancements, then you should just live on the command line and be done with it.

So, Robert McLaws wants me to take a deep breath. “[Chris's] feedback on Vista would be far more valuable if he accepted the reality of the situation and focused on problems that actually stand a chance of getting fixed at this point in the game.” I agree and disagree.

Yes, I’d be happy to help Microsoft fix the fixable Vista oversights - but I’m not going to push my opinions to the sidelines, throw up my hands in defeat, and wait to see if they actually improved anything. It’s been in my experience that by the time I see a Microsoft product, it’s far too late to provide feedback for it. Instead, I’m told to hold off until the next version - but by the time I see that Microsoft product, it’s far too late to provide feedback for it. Instead, I’m told to hold off until the next version - but by the time I see that Microsoft product, it’s. starting to sound like a broken record.

It’s great that Microsoft has accepted so much feedback in the development of Vista, Office, etc. I’m never short of feedback - and I typically provide it freely. But I’m tired of feeling like I’m talking to a brick wall. Need an example? I told Microsoft to build RSS support into Windows Media Player 9 before it exited beta, years before podcasting, months before Scoble went to work for `em! Windows Media Player 11 will likely ship without it. There’s another Microsoft team that thinks they know more than users do - and what’s best for you.

And if you don’t think that users matter, you’re living in a bubble that’s about to burst.

“Brand loyalty” is a phrase that’s quickly disappearing. Users are looking for better, cheaper, faster, nicer, cleaner, smarter, etc. I used to swear by Dell - now I see that everybody’s swearing at them. I used to rely on MSN for my searches - and now I only look when I forget to change my defaults to Google. I used to use Internet Explorer - until I discovered Maxthon 1.x (and I’m still not liking the way 2.x is shaping up). If you’re blind to brand, you deserve everything you might get from it - both good and bad.

Henry Ford initially refused to innovate beyond the Model T, resolute in his belief that his automobile did everything a driver needed it to do (and nothing more). Because of this attitude, Ford had slipped to #3 in the nation by the time the World War was upon us. In a similar sense, I believe that Microsoft has gotten lazy in the desktop space - much like Apple has gotten lazy in the media space. What’s most interesting is that each company is only now beginning to challenge the other on more equal terms - Zune vs. iPod, Windows vs. OS X on Intel.

And if you don’t think that users provide feedback (and make decisions) on their own schedules, you’ve got another thing coming.

I’ve run into countless UI hiccups which prove (beyond a shadow of a doubt) that the usability quirks inside Windows Vista are by design. Need four prime examples that are completely replicable?

1. In installing and running WinVNC server, I’m prompted to view a dialog that’s been forced into some kind of separate desktop (a backwards compatibility screen that runs in Classic mode, removes me from the Vista experience, and looks like total ass to boot). I’m sure this isn’t an isolated incident. My beef, again, is that Windows Vista handles incompatibilities with the largest amount of inelegance possible.
2. Separately, the QuickTime Preferences Control Panel applet causes my entire Windows session into some kind of non-glass Aero fallback mode. Why? Why not just shove that process into some kind of space that protects it from the rest of Windows Vista? Then, why does the screen flash suddenly - as if I’m about to hit a BSOD? Screen flashes without fades are jarring.
3. If you’re lucky enough to have a video card powerful enough to run the full Aero experience (Glass), you know that it’s certainly better than XP’s Luna. I’m not talking about the way that Microsoft’s own developers completely ignored the guidelines set forth by their own company here, mind you (that’s another rant entirely). My legitimate complaint is that the non-Glass experience doesn’t look like Glass at all. Seriously, even Stardock emulated Aero pretty well in WindowBlinds (with transparency!) - but Microsoft opted to give users this 50/50 experience. It’s not just about having a great video card - it’s about having applications that are 100% optimized for Windows Vista. For that, you’ll likely have to wait. forever.
4. “Classic Mode” has always been pretty clean across the board. I’m not so sure that’s the case in Windows Vista - at least, in respect to Microsoft’s own applications (especially Windows Explorer). The shortcomings in UI cohesiveness and completeness are even more apparent when you’re not in Aero (or Aero Basic). With all the new Vista shell shims and hacks in place, “Classic Mode” has pretty much been shoved out of the picture - even though it rears its ugly head far too frequently, as witnessed by my first point in this truncated list.

And if you think I’m the only geek who believes Windows Vista RC1 is not compelling, then you need to start reading reviews outside the Microsoft echo chamber.

Vista’s user experience is just sloppy, folks - sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. I’m sure we’re going to get excuse after excuse, apology after apology, reason after reason - but nothing is going to undo what’s already been done in Vista betas to this point. I’m told that little to nothing is going to change in the UI between RC1 and Gold. We’ll see what happens in a few weeks, won’t we? I’m not holding my breath, but I remain hopeful that someone in the Quality Control department will wake up and smell the competition. Unless we see a radical system-wide improvement in the final (shipping) version of Windows Vista, my judgement on the OS will remain negative.

Without veneer, underlying code will never have a chance to shine.

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Windows Vista Top 10 Tweaks

1. If you’re annoyed by Internet Explorer’s incessant barking that you’ve lowered your security settings (like, if you’re a non-paranoid expert), launch “gpedit.msc” from either the Run command or Start Search field, navigate through Local Computer Policy / Computer Configuration / Administrative Templates / Windows Components / Internet Explorer. In the rightmost pane, double-click “Turn off the Security Settings Check feature” and set it to Enabled.
2. If Internet Explorer’s Information Bar also annoys you, you can turn it off (again) in the Group Policy Object Editor (gpedit.msc) through Local Computer Policy / Computer Configuration / Administrative Templates / Windows Components / Internet Explorer / Security Features. In the rightmost pane, double-click “Internet Explorer Processes” and set it to Disabled.
3. I’ve just mentioned two tweaks that are buried inside the Group Policy Editor. Jim Allchin pointed out that there’s a Group Policy Settings Reference spreadsheet available. Makes for great weekend reading.
4. Read the Background on Backgrounds if you’re a performance junkie. Don’t set your wallpaper through Internet Explorer ever again! Now that Windows supports JPG wallpapers, there’s absolutely no need (or excuse) for using BMPs anymore.
5. If you insist on keeping UAC (User Account Control) turned on for yourself, you might care to make the elevation prompts a bit less visually jarring. Brandon told me about this one, even though I have UAC turned off. Launch the Local Security Policy manager (secpol.msc), and navigate through Security Settings / Local Policies / Security Options. In the rightmost pane, scroll to the bottom and double-click “User Account Control: Switch to the secure desktop when prompting for elevation.” Disable it, and you can keep UAC turned on without getting turned off by the embarrassingly craptacular Aero Basic theme.
6. Vista can send you emails! The Computer Management tool can still be accessed by right-clicking “Computer” and selecting “Manage” from the menu. However, now you can attach a task to any event. Try navigating through System Tools / Event Viewer / Windows Logs / Application. Now, go ahead and select an event - then look to the rightmost pane and click “Attach Task to This Event.” Name it whatever, describe it however, click through the next step, then in the Action step, you’ll see the “Send an e-mail” option.
7. The Windows Task Manager gives you a lot more troubleshooting information in Vista. Flip to the Processes tab, and in the View menu, click “Select Columns” and add Description, Command Line, and Image Path Name. Moreover, when you right-click a process, you can select either “Go to Service(s)” or “Open File Location.” These are all long overdue options.
8. This one’s interesting. Open up the Date and Time Control Panel applet. Flip to the “Additional Clocks” tab. There, you can configure two more clocks from different time zones. They’ll appear in the tooltip when you hover over the Taskbar clock. No additional software (or silly sidebar widgets) necessary.
9. Applicable in other versions of Windows, I’m going to throw it in here for good measure. Create a shortcut to RegSvr32.exe in your SendTo folder. To get there quickly, enter “shell:sendto” in the Run command dialog or Start Search field. Now, when you wanna register a DLL or OCX file with the system, you can select it/them and “Send To” the RegSvr32 shortcut.
10. I figured I’d round out my first set of Windows Vista tips and tricks with a tiny bit of eye candy. It doesn’t beat Picasa, but the Windows Photo Gallery is better than nothing. Once it’s indexed all your photos, click the icon next to the Search field and turn on the “Table of Contents.” That’s kinda nifty.

If this list doesn’t make Lifehacker, nothing will.

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