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When I installed Windows Vista, I really did like all of the translucent effects and the sub-pixel rendering. While the primary purpose of a computer is to let me work more efficiently, I am a sucker for eye candy. I feel for the Windows users because effects as provided by compiz are simply not available to them. The core plugins are pretty cool. I particularly like the way Wobbly Windows adds an almost tactile dimension to moving windows around on the desktop. The desktop cube is a great way to navigate multiple virtual desktops too.

The go-to Vista fix-it guy, The How-To Geek, offers a much-needed tutorial and walk-through on installing print-to-PDF functionality in Windows Vista. To start saving paper and creating PDFs, you'll...

Windows Vista's built-in speech recognition tools are seriously powerful and convenient, as Adam demonstrated by controlling his PC with his voice, but, as he noted, the process for adding seriously...

Windows Vista tip: If you've been missing the Up navigation button in Windows Explorer since you upgraded to Vista, the functionality is still there—it's just hidden behind an Alt-up keyboard...

Novell appears to be (sort of) advertising Windows Vista at the very top of its monthly newsletter.

I still run Windows XP, as do most people I know who haven't bought a PC since Vista came out. Is this the end of an era? The demise of Microsoft's last "workable" operating system version?

In honor of Bill Gates' retirement from Microsoft, our brother in blogging Jason Chen lists a few reasons why Windows Vista really isn't that bad, from security, to looks, to gaming abilities. We've...

Veteran Lifehacker reader Scott writes in with a tip for anyone who regularly renames groups of pictures, documents, or other files, but doesn't need a bulk renaming utility to get it done. Just...

A few days ago i published a short article describing how Windows Vista would accept incorrect passwords at the login screen. Now, as if God/Microsoft her/himself had intervened, my Vista connected to the network, installed some unspecified update, and the password problem is solved. The weird thing is - Vista refuses to connect to my WLAN, so it shouldn't have been able to get any updates.

Microsoft returns intimidating error messages to those intending to open ODF; Notepad works where OpenOffice.org fails in Vista

Windows Vista will accept incorrect passwords, at least on system s set up to use multiple keyboard layouts. It's probably "a convenience to the user", but it seems odd that they would add such a convenience, and then continually bombard the user with inconvenient "are you sure YOU clicked that .exe file?" dialogs.

Despite Microsoft's efforts, the majority of developers still aren't writing with Windows Vista in mind, a new study by Evans Data says. Only eight percent of software firms surveyed were specifically coding with Vista in mind, while additional data brought together by CNET indicates that 49 percent are still writing for Windows XP; 13 percent are programming for Linux, according to reports.

Editor: Say hello to fellow tech writer and Lifehacker reader The How-To Geek, who was kind enough to pull together some of best Windows Vista power tweaks here on Lifehacker today. Whether it's the...

If you're a Windows Vista user tired of seeing lower-right-corner reminders about security, system updates, or other occasionally annoying speech balloon announcements, the How-To Geek has got a...

In a setback for the City of Vienna's three-year-old open-source migration programme, city authorities decided on Wednesday to scrap most of the systems that have so far adopted the city's custom-built Linux distribution, instead approving an €8m migration to Windows Vista.