Step 2: Aero tweaks
User interface
It takes a lot of computer horsepower to create graphics-rich interfaces, whether it’s the rich detail of a video game, or simply the smooth opening and closing of windows.In some cases--video games for example--you need as much detail as possible. That’s part of the fun. In day-to-day use, though, rich graphics simply slow down your computer.
Most modern computers have a second processor dedicated solely to graphics. Manufacturers of high-end video cards, for example, will tout their speed and amount of RAM on their products the same way computer makers do.
Having that kind of graphics horsepower is especially important with Windows Vista, which is specifically designed to take advantage of it.
There are two components to Windows Vista’s graphics that you can make changes to. First is the big one: The visual styles, which set the overall look of your system. There are four choices: Windows Aero, Windows Vista Basic, Windows Standard, Windows Classic.
If your computer supports Aero and it’s turned on, you’ll see a row of boxes showing the different colors you can choose for your windows.
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If your computer doesn’t support Aero (or it’s not on), you’ll see a box labeled "Appearance Settings" showing some sample windows and listing color schemes.
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Running Aero is actually a good thing in terms of system resources. In older versions of windows, the more graphics displayed, the slower the computer. So you might think that Windows Classic, which has the fewest bells and whistles, will give you the fastest performance. But that’s not exactly true for Vista.
Both the Windows Aero and Windows Vista Basic (a.k.a. Aero Lite) use your computer’s graphics card, not the computer’s processor, to do most of the heavy lifting when it comes to the display. Using one of those--as opposed to Standard or Classic--actually lets your computer do less work.
You can switch to Windows Vista Basic for most of Aero’s graphics; that also saves resources. Here’s how:
If you want to keep all of Aero’s bells and whistles, you can still get a performance boost if you’re willing to give up transparency. Here’s how:
To review if your computer and your version of Vista support Aero, the following settings will speed up Vista:
Fastest: Use Windows Vista Basic.
Faster: Use Windows Aero with transparency turned off.
Fast: Use Windows Aero.
Slow: Use Windows Standard or Windows Classic.
Tune ups without Aero
What if your computer doesn’t support Aero? Whether or not you use Aero, there are still a few things you can do to get some more speed. You can disable some of the graphics effects that can look nice, but really don’t add much. Here’s how:Suggestion: Keep "Smooth edges of screen fonts" and "Use visual styles on windows and buttons" or the result might look awful. Everything else is up to you.
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Finally, while Vista’s Sidebar can be a cool thing--let’s face it, that clock is kind of nice--it’s also a resource hog. It slows your computer. Disable it.
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