For those that are annoyed by some of the features in Windows Vista, you should check out the "Vista Annoyances Resolved" article that TweakGuides.com posted recently. Some of the Vista tips are already well-known, such as disabling UAC to get rid of the prompts (although not recommended from a security viewpoint).
The link to the article is here: Vista Annoyances Resolved
Some personal tips, if you are finding Vista to be running slow on your PC / laptop, make sure you have these specs:
- Multi-Core or Multi-Processor CPU
- 2 GB (or higher) RAM Recommended
- DirectX 9.0 (or higher) 128 MB (or higher) graphics card.
If your PC / laptop does not fulfill all or some of the above, you really should not be running Vista, as you will have a less than stellar experience. Also, like XP, speed can be affected by the number of "bloatware" processes you have running, such as Adobe Reader/QuickTime/iTunes/Java/RealPlayer/etc. updates, along with other pointless processes (that you'll likely never use) that run at startup; disable these!
As for gaming performance, make sure your graphic drivers are all up to date, as graphic card vendors continue to improve graphics performance on Vista. FiringSquad put out an article late last year to prove that XP and Vista gaming performance are now essentially identical, now that drivers for Vista are mature: FiringSquad -Windows Vista vs Windows XP Performance: 7 Months Later Make sure your graphic drivers are up to date!
Vista Annoyance Fixes
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Jaegar
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Re: Vista Annoyance Fixes
Yup, that's my laptop. Too little RAM and full of extraneous pre-loaded software. It's running Ubuntu well though. Is there any real advantage to getting some more RAM and cleaning it up so I can use Vista? All I plan to do is watch videos, use the internet and type notes/papers.
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Yoon
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Re: Vista Annoyance Fixes
Hmm, if that's all you're planning to do, Ubuntu should be fine. The only real benefit to using Vista over Ubuntu is greater compatibility with Windows-based programs, ease of installing programs, as well as compatibility with Windows-based PC games.
With Vista up and running on that laptop, I suppose you could try to play older LAN games like Starcraft with your friends, with you on your main computer and a friend on your laptop.
With Vista up and running on that laptop, I suppose you could try to play older LAN games like Starcraft with your friends, with you on your main computer and a friend on your laptop.