Animated effects
Thr first, the absolute first thing I do when receiving a new Windows PC is to pop into Control panel and turn all the blasted effects, animations and curved-cornered windows off. The end result is something quite a bit faster, as the processor hasn't got to keep recalculating all the visual eye candy. But Windows XP has got nothing on its successor Vista, or even the new OS inside the Apple iMac. DOES EVERY SINGLE ACTION HAVE TO BE ACCOMPANIED BY RIPPLES, SWOOSHES AND TV-LIKE FADES? I think not. Is it just me? Can't information on a computer screen just appear and not have to be faed in or faded out? Maybe I really am getting old. This is computing for toddlers.
Comments
Seriously, such features are supposed to help user to interact with user interface. But not all... Round window corners, excessive fades...
I would laugh a lot when on error, some dialog box starts to fade in out of nowhere :P
Maybe I'm too too old for this.
On Windows XP, I have only two things selected under "Visual Effects":
1) Show shadows under mouse pointer (looks better)
2) Show window contents while dragging (sometimes useful)