I’ve finally managed to save some money for PC upgrade.
I’ve decided to add some RAM memory - installing Windows Vista with 512 RAM would be a bit crazy.
Ok, I’ve installed new 2GB RAM and I was ready to install new Microsoft’s child.
Installation was quite short and there were no problems.

First look

What the hell!?
All font are smoothed and aren’t good readable…
My first thought - turn off ClearType - it has helped a bit, but in many places ClearType was still active.
Why?

Some elements of the Windows Vista UI honor the ClearType setting, and others don’t.

You can read more in MSDN Magazine - Turning Off ClearType Font Smoothing.

Fortunately, I’ve solution:

• Open registry editor (you can type “regedit” into the search box and press [ENTER])
• Go to key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
• Set FontSmoothingType to 1
• Set FontSmoothing to 1
• Reboot
• Enjoy

Huh, much better…

Icons

Default, icons on desktop are extremely big.
However, this problem is also easy to deal:

• Press right mouse button anywhere on the desktop
• Click on View
• Select “Classic icons”

It’s getting late - turning off Vista

I’ve clicked on the round button on the bottom of the screen and I’ve pressed nice button near the search box.
But what’s this? Computer hasn’t turned off!
That’s because default “turn off” action is “sleep mode”…
Solution:

• Click anywhere on the desktop
• Click on Personalize
• Navigate to Screensavers -> Change power settings
• Click on the “Change plan settings” label next to your current plan
• Select “Change advanced power settings”
• Expand “Power buttons and lid” section
• Expand “Start menu power button” section
• Change action to “turn off”

Enjoy the silence

That’s a big problem without a solution - I have a bit old Creative SoundBlaster Live (not 24bit!) and there are no drivers for Windows Vista… Somehow I’ve managed to install drivers for XP, but I don’t have audio control panel (equalizer etc.).
This probably take me back to Windows XP.