Windows Aero- How to switch it off

The new Aero interface gives translucency to the chrome that surrounds most application windows. This enables you to see what lies beneath a window, whether the foreground app is stationary or you’re dragging it to a new location.



If the translucency of window chrome irritates you, you can switch it off. Click Start➪Control Panel➪Customize the Color Scheme and then turn off Enable Transparency.

Can Translucency Help Productivity?

Translucency may seem like an unimportant feature, but a source within Microsoft’s Usability Labs tells us that the bold colors of the window frames in Windows XP were found to distract the eye from whatever material was in the main application window. Lightening up the window colors—by making them partially translucent— was found to improve how quickly a person could work with the content within applications.

Vista-New Start Menu

In Vista, the Start button is no longer called Start, and the Start menu looks completely different from the menu you may be used to in Windows XP. However, it’s still there at its place as in Win XP, here it seems a bit better organised.

The old Start button has been replaced by a lighted sphere that displays the Windows flag logo. Instead of submenus that fly out to the right of the main menu, Vista displays your most recently used programs in a primary window.

If you don’t like the new look, you can get the old Start menu back by reverting to the familiar XP submenu system. Right-click the Start Button, click Properties, select Classic Start Menu, and then click OK.

One thing you won’t find on the default Start menu is the Run option, which generations of Windows users have employed to start programs that may not appear on any menu. The omission isn’t a problem—if you know the secret. Simply type the name of the program you want to run (such as notepad) into the Start Search bar just above the Start button and then press Enter.

Disable focus stealing applications with Tweak UI

Ever been typing in a document or a password prompt and have a pop-up take over as the active window? It’s not hard to instant message a password to a stranger or unknowingly reboot your computer because a Windows Update prompt asked while you weren’t looking. An application focus thief breaks into your workflow without warning or permission. Not only can it steal the window focus, it can take over your mental focus.

A free Windows enhancement called Tweak UI can disable focus-stealing applications. Download the free Tweak UI from the link given at the end of this post. Once Tweak UI is running, under the General options, in the Focus panel, select Prevent applications from stealing focus, as shown in Figure below.

Tweak UI unlocks lots of other Windows settings as well. It’s worth a look around the software for other options to configure Windows just to your liking.

Download here