Tweaking Utility

TweakXP occupies a strange position between useful personal utility and IT department crackdown. Power users and those managing multiple profiles or users will appreciate the granularity of the options, but for everyone else, this application may be overkill.

This tool manages settings for all of the options you would find in Microsoft's own interface tweaking capabilities, such as mouse speed, desktop icons, print sharing, and so forth. Then it throws in dozens of additional ones from Group Policy manager, Services manager, and beyond. This may make sense if your roommate regularly uses your computer or you are starting an Internet cafe on the side, but as a personal utility, TweakXP can be overwhelming. The awkwardness of the interface does not help matters. The left-hand navigation, for example, offered 10 menus that bounced up and down as we opened and closed them, putting us on constant anxiety as to where that Active Desktop submenu went. The TweakXP window cannot be resized, which makes scrolling through some option trees interminable.

On the positive side, TweakXP does include a reasonable 14-day trial, and a useful Help file as well as a description field explaining each of the many settings it manages. Moreover, the ability to password-protect the tool and import/export settings makes this tool an option for IT support technicians. If you are a casual user simply looking for more ways to adjust your personal Windows experience, this application is probably not the right one for you. But if you frequently change Microsoft Management Console settings, TweakXP is worth a look.