Do you get the feeling that Windows Vista has a bit of an image problem? I have to say that I have even heard Windows Vista compared to Windows ME… now that is low.
As a Tablet PC user though, I just can’t go back. Despite the trials that Vista occasionally throws at me, I just love the new features for Tablet users.
If you haven’t upgraded yet, in Windows Vista Microsoft added a few subtle but powerful visual cues for Tablet PCs including:
- Left click ripple
- Pen: Right button press cursor
- Pen: Right click ripple
- Mouse ghost for touch screens to enable easy right or left clicking
Vista is pen flicks which are a great time saver.
But the thing that I can’t live without is the upgraded recognition engine. The new engine does a much better job of identifying numbers, email and web addresses.
Unfortunately these new features don’t come without the Vista annoyances. For me, the two main culprits are:
- Speed – Vista is so slow!
- User account control – Could it be any more annoying to be prompted so often?
Speed
Tablet PCs are usually designed around a Low or Ultra Low Voltage processor. This facilitates the light weight and extended battery life, but it sacrifices some processing power.
Unfortunately Windows Vista is power hungry. However, there is a simple way to speed up Windows Vista on your Tablet PC:
Turn off the funky transparent window theme. 
- Click Start
- Click Control Panel
- Click on Appearance and Personalization
- Click on Change the Theme
- Select Windows Classic
It’s a simple thing to do, but you will be surprised how much faster everything runs!
Of course it doesn’t look all Apple Mac sexy, and you don’t have those pretty taskbar window previews but your graphics card and your watch will thank you!
User account control
User account control (UAC) is that thing that prompts you to approve things like installing a new program.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe that UAC is good in principle… but the implementation of it in Vista would have to be one of the most poorly implemented features that I have ever seen.
Not only is UAC annoying, it also slows your computer down significantly too. So to speed up your Tablet PC, you can turn UAC off.
** Important Note: There are reasons that UAC could be useful for your computer, and this is only recommended for advanced, experienced users **
You must be an administrator to perform these steps.
- Click Start
- Click Control Panel
- Type UAC into the search box
- Click on Turn User Account Control (UAC) on or off
- Un-tick the Use User Account Control box
- Click Ok
- Reboot
Now you’re free!
These simple changes will speed up your Windows Vista Tablet PC and allow you to benefit from the good Tablet PC features without the crashing and slowness!
What do you say about windows expert Paul Thurrot who says that Vista Aero on most PCs is controlled vin the GPU and doesn’t affect general windows performance. My own experience is the same. I notice little difference on my hp tx2500.
Also are you saying that turning off UAC speeds up general use or just speeds up things because you don’t have to click the UAC notifications?
Hi Kevin, That’s an interesting comment. You most likely wouldn’t notice any difference on your Tx2500 with its 2.3GHz AMD Turion processor. It’s one of the few beefy Tablet PCs going around.
Nor would most desktop and regular laptop users notice any difference.
On the other hand, down here in Intel L7400 1.5Ghz processor land… I can promise that it makes a large difference. Since turning it off on a number of machines here, we have noticed a number of applications (ie, outlook for example) responding much faster.
Keep in mind that these machines (U and L spec processors) would be at the bottom of the scale in terms of running Windows Vista, so any lag is likely to be more noticeable.
In my experience, aside from the UAC being annoying, it would produce a 15-30 second freeze after clicking the accept button on this system. When you are a power user, this is happening 2-5 times a day.
Since many Tablet PC users are early adopters, I thought that it would probably be relevant.
The best performance gift you can give to your tablet is Windows 7 B1. Since installing it’s been rock steady on my X60T, and performance in real world usage is phenomenal. The system boots and shuts down faster, it sleeps and wakes on par with my mac laptops and most importantly applications launch and respond far quicker. All this with full visual effects on.
I’d recommend people try it out. I can’t understand how a Beta product is so far superior to a final release that has been around for 2 years or more.
Thanks Tatlin. That’s great news. Looking forward to giving that a try!
Is windows 7 beta still available? I thought it closed out.
any help is great!!!