grand stream dreams: LinkFest: More Vista Tweaking (and some XP as well)

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Got a lot of links to still post about.

Got lots of laundry and grocery shopping to do.

Got to drop by Mom's and say "I love you."

Here is part one of my Vista Pile

New Vista Tweak and Tip Arrivals

Vista Start Menu - (freeware) - Windows XP and Vista. -Use this to replace your XP or Vista Start Menu that provides an alternative structure to your program files, accessories, and other functions. Vista's new Start Menu layout can be a challenge finding things, but while you can revert to the XP-style, it isn't nearly as pretty. Vista Start Menu gives you a balance between both. In addition, it is designed around something called cognitive identification which is a fancy way of saying it works like your (well, most people's) brain organizes information. And if you delete an icon or remove an application, it doesn't shift the items around, it just leaves a blank-space until you clean it up. I am intrigued by this program. It looks very polished and seems to make a lot of sense. I am going to try running it on some of my test machines to see what I think.

Vista Transformation Pack 8 - (freeware) - Make your XP system look very, very similar to Vista. This build lets you apply an "Aero Glass" effect to your XP system without needing WindowBlinds now. Also included is the free WinFlip application which mimics the Flip3D task switching tool in Vista. It provides better compatibility with hotfixes, now provides a suggested setup configuration during application to the system, and included updated versions of all the mini-utilities that make it render the Vista effects. Do use this with caution, as some users report problems uninstalling and removing the "bits" that make it work. A System Restore point would be a good bet.

Stardock: LogonStudio - (freeware) - Customize your XP or Vista logon screen with your own image selection instead of the aurora image by default. Pretty safe tweaking.

Take Control - Easily Take Ownership of your Vista files - (freeware) - Want to delete, move, or modify a Vista system file? Normally this isn't easy to do. However, if you run this utility under an administrator account, you can do just about anything you want. Nice, but needs to be used with wisdom and understanding. Whack the wrong file and your system may not boot.

Previously Posted on Grand Stream Dreams