Simple Ways to Customize Vista’s Appearance and Functionality
I took some time tonight to write a little guide for those who might be looking for ways to get more out of Windows Vista. Basically, these are just a few things that I’ve previously used, or am currently using, to make Vista look better and make my computing more efficient. I hope that there will be a few folks out there that will appreciate this little concoction. Any other recommendations or additions that you can supply would be greatly appreciated!
#1 Play with your toolbars!
Aesthetics improvement: 3
Usefulness: 4
This is probably one of the easiest ways to customize the way that Windows Vista looks and operates. One complaint that I’ve always had about any operating system is that you have to click too many times to open files or execute applications. Adding toolbars, or simply adjusting them, may help to reduce the number of clicks it takes to get where you want to go.
If you right click on the Windows Taskbar at the bottom of you’re screen, you’ll see a menu with an option at the top that says “Toolbars”. Notice that under “Toolbars” there are multiple toolbars that you can activate or deactivate. The first one on the list is “Address”. This simply adds an address bar next to the notification area of the taskbar. Typing something into this bar and hitting enter will automatically perform a search in your default web browser using the browser’s default search engine. If you hate having to open your browser every time you need to look up something quickly, this is the toolbar for you!
The next one in the list is the “Windows Media Player” toolbar. This is another toolbar that is very useful, and another one that I would be lost without. I use the media keys that are built into my laptop to change tracks, pause, play, and adjust volume when I am listening to music so that I don’t have to minimize and maximize Windows Media Player over and over again. Alternatively, you can simply click the buttons on the toolbar to do the same. The best part about it (in my opinion) is that Windows Media Play gets minimized to the toolbar rather than to the taskbar.
Another cool trick that you can do with toolbars is simply to create your own! You can easily do this by clicking and dragging any folder on your desktop to the edge of your desktop. You now have a brand new toolbar that you can use to show your recent documents, your favorite icons, or anything else you can image. You also have a few options for customizing your new toolbar. You can show or hide text, view small or large icons, and select to auto hide the toolbar.
Finally, my favorite toolbar enhancement is the good old Quick Launch Toolbar. If you’ve never used the Quick Launch Toolbar before, I highly recommend it. I don’t know where I would be without it! Not only can you launch an application with a single click of the mouse, but you can also run the applications in the Quick Launch by using the keyboard shortcut “Windows + (position of icon)”. For example, since Firefox is in the first position of my Quick Launch Toolbar, I could simply enter “Windows + 1” to launch Firefox.
There are a few cool things that you can do with the Quick Launch Toolbar itself. The first one, and probably the easiest, is simply to make it bigger. If you’ve seen what any of the Windows 7 builds look like, you will have an idea of what I’m talking about. My laptop display is high resolution, so the quick launch icons are very small with the normal sized taskbar. What you can do is right click on the taskbar, and uncheck “Lock the Taskbar”. Then click and drag the top edge of the taskbar one click until it looks like this:
Once you’ve accomplished this, you can right click an empty area near one of the icons and click “Large Icons” under the view list. The result will look like this:
After that, you can click and drag the taskbar back down, which will shrink it slightly so that your quick launch icons are still large, but your taskbar isn’t excessively fat.
#2 Get Standalone Stack
Aesthetics improvement: 4
Usefulness: 5
If you’ve ever used a Mac computer before, you will recognize this. Standalone Stack is a very small application that will expand to show your icons “stacked” when you click on the application. In essence, this is a smaller part of the popular docking applications for Windows, but you don’t need a dock to be able to use Standalone Stack (hence the name). You can find a link to download Standalone Stack, with directions for installation and use here: http://www.chrisnsoft.com/standalonestack/
Once you have it all figured out and working, the Standalone Stack icon can be left on your desktop, or added to your quick launch. If you choose the later you will be able to have a list of icons pop up from your quick launch with a single click. You can also have as many Standalone Stack folders as you want! Here’s what it looks like:
#3 Get a Dock
Aesthetics improvement: 5
Usefulness: 5
Putting a dock on your desktop is a great way to add a little eye candy, create more “one click” opportunities, or make your friends think you have Mac OSX running on your PC. The two most popular Dock applications are Rocket Dock and Object Dock. Rocket Dock is my preferred dock and it can be found here: http://rocketdock.com/
Object Dock is a good application as well, but you have to pay to get access to all of the features. Rocket Dock, on the other hand, is completely free and there are a multitude of add-ons that you can download for it, including stacking add-ons like the one previously mentioned. Another cool add-on that you can get for Rocket Dock is the “Hiding windows taskbar and startmenu” add-on, found here: http://rocketdock.com/addon/misc/1009
This add-on will basically remove the taskbar completely from your desktop. If I remember correctly, you can still use the “Windows” key to bring up the start menu. There are plenty of other great add-ons you can get for Rocket Dock and there are a plethora of options for the application itself.
#4 Get Widgets
Aesthetics improvement: 5
Usefulness: 3
I used to be under the impression that widgets were completely worthless and that they did nothing more than eat up resources and slow down your computer. Thanks, to Yahoo!, my opinion has changed. My first run-in with widgets was when a classmate sitting next to me in a college class demonstrated his widgets for me on his new MacBook. I was somewhat impressed, but I was still using Windows XP at the time and I was disappointed with the early versions of Google Gadgets.
When I switched over to Windows Vista last year, I had the opportunity to play around with the integrated Windows Sidebar. However, once again I was under whelmed, mostly due to the lack of customization options with Windows Sidebar. Recently, I decided to give widgets one more chance. This time I decided to give Yahoo!’s offering a shot and I have to say, I’m quite impressed. Yahoo! has done a wonderful job of making widgets beautiful, useful, and resource efficient. I have already found a number of useful widgets and everything is loaded with options. In addition, Yahoo! has made it easy for the “average Joe” to create and design widgets. They even have a widget making guide including beginners XML and JavaScript available for download in PDF format. Also, users can download a special widget converter that will allow you to convert any widget to source code that can be edited with any basic text editor.
From what I’ve witnessed so far, I can confidently say that Yahoo! Widgets is the most aesthetically pleasing widget application available at the time being. The reason behind giving it a “3” for usefulness is because many people are of same mindset that I formally was which is that widgets are simply an “extra” that will clutter your computer. Also, widgets are only useful if you invest the time to find well designed widgets that will work well with the other applications on your computer.
Here’s what my desktop looks like with Yahoo! Widgets:
#5 Use the Things that Microsoft Gave You
Aesthetics improvement: 1
Usefulness: 4
No, I’m not talking about headaches… I’m talking about things like the start menu and the notification area of the taskbar. What am I talking about? Well, for one, I usually don’t close programs like Thunderbird, Skype, Digsby, Windows Media Player, etc. I usually just minimize them to the notification area. This is nice because I don’t have open windows taking up space in my taskbar. I can keep my desktop looking clean, but I can still receive notifications if a contact signs on Skype or if I receive an email. Also, I don’t have to suffer from load times as the applications are already running. I know it seems ridiculous and self-explanatory but many people don’t really think of things like this.
What else can you do? Favorites Menu! I don’t know why this isn’t activated by default, but it’s a great thing to enable if you haven’t already. Take a look:
If you use the start menu frequently you will probably like the favorites menu. All of my most used icons that don’t fit into my quick launch go in my favorite’s folder. That way if something isn’t one click away, it’s only two! All you have to do click “Start”, mouse over “Favorites”, and click your icon of choice. To enable the Favorites Menu, just right click on the taskbar and select “properties”. Then select the “Start Menu” tab and click on “Customize…”. A list of preferences should appear that looks like this:
All you have to activate the Favorites Menu and apply!
Another cool ability that Microsoft has given you that you might not be aware of is the “pin to Start Menu” option. Any icon that you have in your Quick Launch Toolbar can conveniently be attached or “pinned” to the start menu. You might not think that this is too revolutionary, but it does one fabulous thing for me; removes my Recycle Bin from the desktop while keeping it quickly accessible. Just click and drag your Recycle Bin to the quick launch, right click the new Recycle Bin shortcut, and click “Pin to Start Menu”. The result will look like this:
If you want to remove (or later restore) the Recycle Bin icon to your desktop, simply right click anywhere on your desktop and choose “Personalize”. In the window that appears click on “Change desktop icons” in the “Tasks” list on the left. In the next window that pops up you can either check or uncheck the box next to Recycle Bin to show or hide the Recycle Bin on your desktop.
Well, I’m fresh out of ideas at the moment. I hope that this guide will be able to assist new Windows Vista users or those who are just bored with Windows in general. If anyone else has suggestions or ideas they would like to add to the list I’d love to hear them! If I come across more tricks I will update this thread as well.
Enjoy!
-juane414
I took some time tonight to write a little guide for those who might be looking for ways to get more out of Windows Vista. Basically, these are just a few things that I’ve previously used, or am currently using, to make Vista look better and make my computing more efficient. I hope that there will be a few folks out there that will appreciate this little concoction. Any other recommendations or additions that you can supply would be greatly appreciated!
#1 Play with your toolbars!
Aesthetics improvement: 3
Usefulness: 4
This is probably one of the easiest ways to customize the way that Windows Vista looks and operates. One complaint that I’ve always had about any operating system is that you have to click too many times to open files or execute applications. Adding toolbars, or simply adjusting them, may help to reduce the number of clicks it takes to get where you want to go.
If you right click on the Windows Taskbar at the bottom of you’re screen, you’ll see a menu with an option at the top that says “Toolbars”. Notice that under “Toolbars” there are multiple toolbars that you can activate or deactivate. The first one on the list is “Address”. This simply adds an address bar next to the notification area of the taskbar. Typing something into this bar and hitting enter will automatically perform a search in your default web browser using the browser’s default search engine. If you hate having to open your browser every time you need to look up something quickly, this is the toolbar for you!
The next one in the list is the “Windows Media Player” toolbar. This is another toolbar that is very useful, and another one that I would be lost without. I use the media keys that are built into my laptop to change tracks, pause, play, and adjust volume when I am listening to music so that I don’t have to minimize and maximize Windows Media Player over and over again. Alternatively, you can simply click the buttons on the toolbar to do the same. The best part about it (in my opinion) is that Windows Media Play gets minimized to the toolbar rather than to the taskbar.
Another cool trick that you can do with toolbars is simply to create your own! You can easily do this by clicking and dragging any folder on your desktop to the edge of your desktop. You now have a brand new toolbar that you can use to show your recent documents, your favorite icons, or anything else you can image. You also have a few options for customizing your new toolbar. You can show or hide text, view small or large icons, and select to auto hide the toolbar.
Finally, my favorite toolbar enhancement is the good old Quick Launch Toolbar. If you’ve never used the Quick Launch Toolbar before, I highly recommend it. I don’t know where I would be without it! Not only can you launch an application with a single click of the mouse, but you can also run the applications in the Quick Launch by using the keyboard shortcut “Windows + (position of icon)”. For example, since Firefox is in the first position of my Quick Launch Toolbar, I could simply enter “Windows + 1” to launch Firefox.
There are a few cool things that you can do with the Quick Launch Toolbar itself. The first one, and probably the easiest, is simply to make it bigger. If you’ve seen what any of the Windows 7 builds look like, you will have an idea of what I’m talking about. My laptop display is high resolution, so the quick launch icons are very small with the normal sized taskbar. What you can do is right click on the taskbar, and uncheck “Lock the Taskbar”. Then click and drag the top edge of the taskbar one click until it looks like this:
Once you’ve accomplished this, you can right click an empty area near one of the icons and click “Large Icons” under the view list. The result will look like this:
After that, you can click and drag the taskbar back down, which will shrink it slightly so that your quick launch icons are still large, but your taskbar isn’t excessively fat.
#2 Get Standalone Stack
Aesthetics improvement: 4
Usefulness: 5
If you’ve ever used a Mac computer before, you will recognize this. Standalone Stack is a very small application that will expand to show your icons “stacked” when you click on the application. In essence, this is a smaller part of the popular docking applications for Windows, but you don’t need a dock to be able to use Standalone Stack (hence the name). You can find a link to download Standalone Stack, with directions for installation and use here: http://www.chrisnsoft.com/standalonestack/
Once you have it all figured out and working, the Standalone Stack icon can be left on your desktop, or added to your quick launch. If you choose the later you will be able to have a list of icons pop up from your quick launch with a single click. You can also have as many Standalone Stack folders as you want! Here’s what it looks like:
#3 Get a Dock
Aesthetics improvement: 5
Usefulness: 5
Putting a dock on your desktop is a great way to add a little eye candy, create more “one click” opportunities, or make your friends think you have Mac OSX running on your PC. The two most popular Dock applications are Rocket Dock and Object Dock. Rocket Dock is my preferred dock and it can be found here: http://rocketdock.com/
Object Dock is a good application as well, but you have to pay to get access to all of the features. Rocket Dock, on the other hand, is completely free and there are a multitude of add-ons that you can download for it, including stacking add-ons like the one previously mentioned. Another cool add-on that you can get for Rocket Dock is the “Hiding windows taskbar and startmenu” add-on, found here: http://rocketdock.com/addon/misc/1009
This add-on will basically remove the taskbar completely from your desktop. If I remember correctly, you can still use the “Windows” key to bring up the start menu. There are plenty of other great add-ons you can get for Rocket Dock and there are a plethora of options for the application itself.
#4 Get Widgets
Aesthetics improvement: 5
Usefulness: 3
I used to be under the impression that widgets were completely worthless and that they did nothing more than eat up resources and slow down your computer. Thanks, to Yahoo!, my opinion has changed. My first run-in with widgets was when a classmate sitting next to me in a college class demonstrated his widgets for me on his new MacBook. I was somewhat impressed, but I was still using Windows XP at the time and I was disappointed with the early versions of Google Gadgets.
When I switched over to Windows Vista last year, I had the opportunity to play around with the integrated Windows Sidebar. However, once again I was under whelmed, mostly due to the lack of customization options with Windows Sidebar. Recently, I decided to give widgets one more chance. This time I decided to give Yahoo!’s offering a shot and I have to say, I’m quite impressed. Yahoo! has done a wonderful job of making widgets beautiful, useful, and resource efficient. I have already found a number of useful widgets and everything is loaded with options. In addition, Yahoo! has made it easy for the “average Joe” to create and design widgets. They even have a widget making guide including beginners XML and JavaScript available for download in PDF format. Also, users can download a special widget converter that will allow you to convert any widget to source code that can be edited with any basic text editor.
From what I’ve witnessed so far, I can confidently say that Yahoo! Widgets is the most aesthetically pleasing widget application available at the time being. The reason behind giving it a “3” for usefulness is because many people are of same mindset that I formally was which is that widgets are simply an “extra” that will clutter your computer. Also, widgets are only useful if you invest the time to find well designed widgets that will work well with the other applications on your computer.
Here’s what my desktop looks like with Yahoo! Widgets:
#5 Use the Things that Microsoft Gave You
Aesthetics improvement: 1
Usefulness: 4
No, I’m not talking about headaches… I’m talking about things like the start menu and the notification area of the taskbar. What am I talking about? Well, for one, I usually don’t close programs like Thunderbird, Skype, Digsby, Windows Media Player, etc. I usually just minimize them to the notification area. This is nice because I don’t have open windows taking up space in my taskbar. I can keep my desktop looking clean, but I can still receive notifications if a contact signs on Skype or if I receive an email. Also, I don’t have to suffer from load times as the applications are already running. I know it seems ridiculous and self-explanatory but many people don’t really think of things like this.
What else can you do? Favorites Menu! I don’t know why this isn’t activated by default, but it’s a great thing to enable if you haven’t already. Take a look:
If you use the start menu frequently you will probably like the favorites menu. All of my most used icons that don’t fit into my quick launch go in my favorite’s folder. That way if something isn’t one click away, it’s only two! All you have to do click “Start”, mouse over “Favorites”, and click your icon of choice. To enable the Favorites Menu, just right click on the taskbar and select “properties”. Then select the “Start Menu” tab and click on “Customize…”. A list of preferences should appear that looks like this:
All you have to activate the Favorites Menu and apply!
Another cool ability that Microsoft has given you that you might not be aware of is the “pin to Start Menu” option. Any icon that you have in your Quick Launch Toolbar can conveniently be attached or “pinned” to the start menu. You might not think that this is too revolutionary, but it does one fabulous thing for me; removes my Recycle Bin from the desktop while keeping it quickly accessible. Just click and drag your Recycle Bin to the quick launch, right click the new Recycle Bin shortcut, and click “Pin to Start Menu”. The result will look like this:
If you want to remove (or later restore) the Recycle Bin icon to your desktop, simply right click anywhere on your desktop and choose “Personalize”. In the window that appears click on “Change desktop icons” in the “Tasks” list on the left. In the next window that pops up you can either check or uncheck the box next to Recycle Bin to show or hide the Recycle Bin on your desktop.
Well, I’m fresh out of ideas at the moment. I hope that this guide will be able to assist new Windows Vista users or those who are just bored with Windows in general. If anyone else has suggestions or ideas they would like to add to the list I’d love to hear them! If I come across more tricks I will update this thread as well.
Enjoy!
-juane414
Last edited:
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