Tablet PC Blogs

When I set up my tablet, I like to do certain things to it to personalize the experience. Check it out and see if maybe some of it applies to you. Some of these tweaks stem from my hatred for a sluggish computer (I grew up on a Pentium 100) so if you're the type to prefer eye candy over a snappy interface, some of this may not be for you.

Performance tweaks

• Disable Windows XP visual themes Personally, the themes get old after a day, and make windows slower to respond.
• Remove sounds These get old too, and cause delays when starting up, shutting down, and resuming from stand by.

Interface tweaks

• Taskbar on right side of screen, set to auto hide. Opens up more screen real estate, and leaves room to open plenty of windows.
• Menu fading/sliding off (Control Panel, Display, Appearance, Effects) Makes menus open faster
• Menu open speed set to 0 (fastest) - this tweak needs Tweak UI or a registry edit - hkey_current_user\control panel\desktop - MenuShowDelay = 0
• Explorer toolbar on the same line as the menubar Neither takes up the full length of the screen when I remove the toolbar buttons I never use (like favorites, history)
• Increase size of scrollbars (Control Panel, Display, Appearance, Advanced, tap the scroll bar and increase size to suit). Makes them easier to hit with the pen.
• Set TIP to hover to open and insert (TIP options, "Pointing to the icon opens Input Panel", Settings tab, "Pointing to the insert button inserts text") Takes some getting used to, but I save 2 taps for every TIP entry and since I use the tip a lot it adds up quick
• Increase threshold for double tap and hover (the only way I know is by using Tweak UI) The pen is not as easy to hold steady as a more. Increasing these sensitivity settings makes it easier for me to manage using a mouse-driven interface that requires hovering and double tapping.
• Set desktop and Windows Explorer to open on a single tap (Tools, Folder Options) Thankfully, Microsoft was thinking of us shaky double clickers long before the Tablet PC was born. This "web link" emulation style turns out to be tremendously easier to use when dealing with a pen. The only thing I find frustrating about it is that, when scrolling through a file list with the pen in proximity, the window will jump backwards to whatever file is selected.

I'm sure I'll think of more later. What do you do to personalize your tablet?