The same way your car's engine can be tuned to get better performance, the same way your Windows Vista's performance can be pushed up without buying more memory or a faster CPU. All that you need is a good tweaking software, or a couple of days to spend looking for tweaks on the Internet and applying them manually.
The software solution that we have found for you is called Tweak VI, and comes from Totalidea Software, the producers of the notorious Tweak XP-Pro, one of the best optimization suites for Windows XP.
The setup package of this application weighs 11.5MB, so you won't get old waiting for it to be downloaded, even when having a slower connection. There are three versions available, all in the same download - Basic, Premium and Ultimate. All of them require that you register using an Internet connection, and if you want the extra features offered by the last two versions mentioned earlier, then you'll have to pay for a 12 months subscription.
The interface of this program is exactly as expected, with a strong Vista touch, and as easy to use as most software applications from this category. To the left, you can find a menu with 10 items available, half of them leading to a new area that allows you to tweak your system, while the remaining ones are used for additional tasks, such as auto optimization, system restore or the display of "About" information.
TweakVI works perfectly on all editions of Windows Vista 32/64bit, but to fully unleash its power, you should get the Premium or Ultimate versions. Anyway, let's see what can we get with each of the editions available, shall we?
Basic Edition
First of all, the Basic edition, available for free, as I was saying earlier, comes with a nice portfolio of optimizations available, including Desktop, Start menu, Internet Explorer and Firefox tweaks, as well as an excellent System Information tool, Virtual desktops, and tweaks for Outlook, mouse, system folders and system shutdown.
Apart from having its own tools and plugins included, TweakVI gives you quick access to the system tools included in Windows Vista, from the Certificate Manager to System Restore.
One of the most interesting features that I noticed was the ability to download and use EasyBCD from within TweakVI. This program allows you to fully control Vista's boot loader and to enable the use of multiple operating systems without the need of any third party boot manager.
Premium Edition
Moving on, we have found that the Premium version starts getting serious when it comes to tweaking your operating system, because if you get a subscription for this edition, you will be able to optimize your memory, fully control your taskbar and sidebar settings, cleanup your hard drive and registry, tweak your Internet connection and settings, or manage system update backups and installed software.
Now...what else? We could talk about this program for an entire day, or move straight to the conclusions, and since I don't want to take away any of your precious time, let's draw the line. After all, it's always better to taste than to watch...
The Good
TweakVI has an excellent interface and a wide range of features, its Ultimate edition allowing you to forget about the need to use additional registry or disk tools and giving you full control of your Windows Vista.
The Bad
The Premium and Ultimate editions are really expensive, especially when thinking about the fact that you'll have to renew your subscription after 12 months!
Conclusion
After using Tweak-XP Pro for a long time, it was a pleasure to discover its follower for Windows Vista. Despite the fact that its Platinum and Ultimate editions are pretty expensive, TweakVI is a worthy choice for those that need to tweak their operating system's settings, and who doesn't need such a thing?
At last, you should always remember to backup your data and settings before performing changes on your system's configuration. That doesn't mean TweakVI is unreliable, but it's always better to be safe than sorry..
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