Windows Vista has this cool UI enhancer, Aero, the technology that brings the glass effect to the windows on Windows Vista, as well as the Flip-3D preview when you use the Windows + Tab key. It is more of a UI enhancer than any additional value to the operating system. If you have a powerful machine with high end configuration then Aero would be a cool thing to have. But if you have a machine that’s gasping for air when you are at your “productive high” then you might want to look into turning the Aero effect off.

Follow these steps to disable the Aero effect in Windows Vista,

Step-1:

Right click any where on your desktop and choose “Personalize” on the context menu.

Step-2:

On the “Personalization” dialog, click on the “Window Color and Appearance” link at the top.

Step-3:

On the “Window Color and Appearance” dialog click on the “Open classic appearance properties for more color options” link at the bottom of the window.

Step-4:

Windows will popup the “Appearance Settings” dialog and on the “Color Scheme” list you’ll see “Windows Aero” selected. Change that to select “Windows Vista Basic”. Hit the “OK” button to dismiss the dialog.

Windows will now disable the Aero effect and will instead use the Vista Basic effect which uses a lot lesser processing power. To turn Aero effect on, follow the same steps but select the “Windows Aero” item on the “Color Scheme” list.

How do you know Vista’s Aero effect is off? Here is how a window control buttons look on Aero,

And here is how the window control buttons look on Vista Basic scheme,

If you have any questions regarding this please make sure to ask us in comments.