Greased Windows

Since I'm not likely going to be able to make my switch to the world of Apple for a few months, I just had to settle in to Windows and accept my fate. Linux, unfortunately, is not an option for me due to my unique software needs or I'd be there in a hurry. And there's no point going to Windows Vista, is more expensive, slower, buggier, and more annoying than XP (at least for now).

So I decided to make XP as suitable habitat as possible. After reading through many guides, I found some that were worth following and have tweaked my machine to run like a well-oiled machine. It's FAST. Here's what I accomplished:

• Speed: Eliminating useless overhead in Windows and using so performance enhancements has made my machine almost as zippy as it was when I first got it (when it had NOTHING on it). My favorite though, was telling Norton to stop scanning my outgoing emails and program. With that change alone, things are opening in half the time or better.
  
• Beauty: Using some themes for Windows and Firefox that stress speed and space my interface has become delightfully non-distracting and my monitor feels like it grew an inch or two.
• Stability: I can't really claim this one until I've been running it for a while, but I was able to disable most of the superfluous "services" running in Windows. Without so many operations going at once, I expect I will not have as many incidences. Also, I disabled that dumb "Send error report" window! Whew!
• Better Browsing: My browser, FireFox, is no longer a browser for the general public. It's a lean mean browsing machine and it's been bookin' around the web since I gave it a tune up.

So what if your car has live GPS positioning, integrated map plotting, bullet proof windows, four and a half wheel drive, and can drive itself if you can only go 10 mph? I've removed the things in Windows I will never need (I can always turn them back on) and I'm reaping the benefits.

This is extremely Geeky, so I don't recommend this if you don't have at least a couple hours to spend on it (1 hour windows, 1 hour internet). Here's the best of the bunch as far as guides:

PC Stats Beginner Guide
Removing Useless XP "Services" Overhead (be cautious... definitely worth it)
Tweak Guides: FireFox 2.0
FireFox Preloader
TCP Optimizer (speed up your Internet)

That's it. Don't do EVERYTHING in those guides, it would take forever. Just do the things that look the best to you. With a little tweaking, you'd be surprised just how responsive XP can be.