Vista Tweak Tips #2

I think it is time for me to write another post on tweaking Vista. I’ve been fooling around with Linux a lot this week, so I had to start Vista back up to find some tweaking tips. Remember, if you have any tips that you would like for me to include in one of my posts then please email me at josh@jjjunk.com or post a comment. Now, on to the tips.

Tip #1: 3D Desktop

After using Linux for the first time, I have to say that I really like the Beryl download that makes the desktop into a 3D rotating cube. I found myself wishing that Windows had something like this, and I just happened to find a download that will do it. Yod’m 3D is a program that you run in the background that will change your desktop into a rotating cube. When you run the program you can use the CTRL+Shift and arrow keys to rotate the cube. You may also hold down CTRL+Shift and use the mouse to rotate the cube. I ended up changing the shortcut keys to CTRL+ALT because that is the way that it is set up in Linux.

Yod’m 3D does not just make your desktop into a rotating cube; it also gives you multiple desktops to work on. I like the feature of having multiple workstations in Linux so that I can do different things without having all of the windows in my way. When you rotate the cube to a different desktop, you can use that desktop as a fresh start while still having your old desktop running. Here is a video demonstrating Yod’m 3D. The video is kind of choppy, but the program runs smoothly. By the way, Yod’m 3D will also work for Windows 2000 and XP.

Video: TweakVista.com demo of Yod’m 3D

You can download Yod’m 3D here. Just right click on the file and save. Their website seems to be having some problems so it might take a while to download.Tip #2: Change the color of windows

The new transparent windows features in Vista are nice, but did you know that you can change the color of the windows borders? It isn’t that hard to do, but it adds some customization to it. I have mine set as a blue color. In order to change the color, you need to go to Start>Control Panel>Appearance and Personalization>Window Color and Appearance. Once that opens, all you have to do is select a color. There is also a color mixer if you don’t like the colors that are already created.

Tip #3: Change startup programs

Don’t you hate it when you start up your computer and you get all kinds of programs running in the background, which slows your startup speed? I have about 10 different programs that run when I startup my computer, and I had more when I had XP. I like to have a quick startup so I don’t have to wait to use my computer. If you want to choose which programs start up, just click the Start button and type msconfig in the search box and hit Enter. Click the Startup tab and select which programs you want to run when you start your computer.