TweakVista

TweakVista takes an unnecessarily complicated interface provided by Microsoft and simplifies it by organizing the myriad of system options into one clean design.

The app starts with a list of 10 options on the left nav, ranging from Start Up and Resources, down through Security and Power, and ending with Miscellaneous Tweaks. Each tab opens a new panel of topic-specific options, most with tabs of their own delineating between basic and advanced functions. For example, the Services tab controls access to many of the background processes. There are preconfigured Profiles for gamers, for saving memory, and so on. The Features tab, though, lets you pick and choose specific settings.

The Power option is useful for more than just laptop users, though. It also gives you a carbon footprint of your computer usage based on your hardware, and extrapolates it for a year's worth of use. Who knows if it's accurate, but it's good reminder that computers aren't running on the power of love.

Whether you want to make adjustments or simply learn more about what Vista is doing, TweakVista gives both Vista newbies and power users abilities that go beyond mere "tweaking," without the headaches that Vista is infamous for.