Windows Vista is a resource hog. Microsoft’s latest operating system will swallow every last bit of hardware resources you throw at it in the race for a top user experience, a concept synonymous with high performance.

And yet, there are scenarios in which Vista will eat away CPU cycles, huge amounts of random access memory, completely hug a ReadyBoost USB device and still underperform. The operating system will choke even on the most common of tasks, abandoning the user to slowdowns in system performance and to unresponsive processes catalyzed by nothing more than routine and mundane actions. No doubt, Vista has a few rough corners in terms of reliability and performance, but there are a few solutions available, until Microsoft delivers the first Service Pack in 2008.

1. Hardware
Is there something you can do beforehand to boost Windows Vista performance? Well, of course there is. Build or choose a hardware architecture to tailor fit the resource-hungry operating system. If you can buy a new system along with the platform, or if you can upgrade, do it. We have all seen the minimum Vista system requirements, and they are completely unrealistic. I mean, 800 MHz 32-bit…

Windows Vista is a resource hog. Microsoft’s latest operating system will swallow every last bit of hardware resources you throw at it in the race for a top user experience, a concept synonymous with high performance.

And yet, there are scenarios in which Vista will eat away CPU cycles, huge amounts of random access memory, completely hug a ReadyBoost USB device and still underperform. The operating system will choke even on the most common of tasks, abandoning the user to slowdowns in system performance and to unresponsive processes catalyzed by nothing more than routine and mundane actions. No doubt, Vista has a few rough corners in terms of reliability and performance, but there are a few solutions available, until Microsoft delivers the first Service Pack in 2008.

1. Hardware
Is there something you can do beforehand to boost Windows Vista performance? Well, of course there is. Build or choose a hardware architecture to tailor fit the resource-hungry operating system. If you can buy a new system along with the platform, or if you can upgrade, do it. We have all seen the minimum Vista system requirements, and they are completely unrealistic. I mean, 800 MHz 32-bit…

Steps to take before running a program locally

Everyone knows that before running a program you downloaded from the net, you should

1. Do your research (check out what people are saying about the software on google groups etc)

2. Read the EULA (End User License Agreement) with the help of Javacool’s Eulalyzer.

3. Download from a trust worthy source, check site reputation using services like SiteAdvisor (or free alternatives)

4. Scan the executable with not just your local antivirus but also get second and third options with various Online malware Scanners, particularly multiple engine scanners like VirusTotal (or alternatives). Advanced users should scan with sandboxing type scanners like Anubis or PC Tools Threat Expert (or alternatives).

But these methods aren’t foolproof , but what other defenses are there to ensure recovery if the programs turns out to be malicious or bad?

Using installation monitors

How they work - These tools monitor changes made during installation of a program. This is achieved by creating a mini-snapshot of the…

First let me start by saying that one of the main features of Windows Vista is the new user accounts security enhancements, but sometimes, defaults don’t meet everyone’s taste when it comes to how we deal with our PCs. I for one, always used full administrator accounts since I first knew what a Windows user account is, and never been hit by a virus/spyware/crap, using common sense and updated AV software, so I don’t want to give permissions to myself or face strange error messages every time I do a simple task on my computer.

We know UAC feature in Windows Vista, and we all know how to disable it, this is not the purpose of this thread, because even after you disable UAC, you’ll have other prompts about folder/file permissions errors sometimes (I faced it in strange, unexpected occasions, like deleting an empty folder for a program left by the uninstaller), or you’ll need to right click and select “Run as Administrator” for most applications to work/install correctly.

That’s because Microsoft made the administrators accounts (in local administrators group) run as standard users, unless we give permissions for every and each administrative tasks, with a little difference…

This is a pretty cool software….It gives the Mac OSX Expose kinda feeling to the Vista PCs (only Vista….There are few other softwares that are designed for XP, but not this)

Here’s a screenshot:

You can get the latest beta version from here [ link ]

The previous versions can be downloaded from here: [ link ]
But you should try the latest one in the previous link because it adds much more cool things to it….and it’s working stably for a beta…