As you’ve seen, many factors can affect your computer’s appearance
and performance, including your hardware components and account controls.
The way you achieve a balance between appearance and performance, however,
is largely through the trade-offs
you make when applying personalization settings, and it is personalization
settings that largely determine your experience.1. Personalization Settings
In Windows 7, you can access personalization settings by
clicking Start→Control Panel→Appearance and
Personalization→Personalization or by right-clicking on the desktop and
choosing Personalization. As Figure 1 shows, this displays
the Personalization page in the Control Panel. The available
personalization settings on the left side are:
- Desktop Icons
Controls the default icons displayed on the desktop.
- Mouse Pointers
Controls the mouse pointers used by Windows 7.
- Account Picture
Sets the account picture that is displayed on the Start
Menu.
- Display
(This option appears in the bottom left.) Controls monitors
used by Windows 7, their display resolutions, and their refresh
rates. Also allows you to extend your desktop onto a second
monitor.
In the main portion of the window, you’ll be able to access the
following personalization settings:
- Theme
Sets the theme used by Windows 7. A theme is a collection of
appearance settings that includes the desktop background, sounds,
and mouse pointers used by Windows 7. Changing themes and
modifying certain aspects of a theme sets the user experience
level and color scheme for your computer.
- Desktop Background
Controls the desktop background colors and pictures
used.
- Window Color
Sets the color of window borders, the Start menu and
the taskbar. With Aero themes, you can enable, adjust, and disable
Windows transparency.
- Sounds
Controls the system sounds used by Windows 7.
- Screen Saver
Controls the screensaver and when it
displays.
2. User Experience Levels
The user experience level is the foundation on which your
personalization settings are based. Table 1 provides an overview
of each user experience level.
Table 1. Understanding the user experience levels
| User experience level | Can be used
with | Provides |
|---|
| Windows
Classic | Any Windows 7 edition;
anycomputer Windows 7–capable
| The look and feel of
Windows 2000 while retaining the functionality improvements in
Windows 7. You’ll find a refined Start menu and streamlined
Explorer windows, both with integrated search. You can switch to
Windows Classic mode by selecting the Windows Classic theme in
the Personalization control panel. |
| Windows
Basic | Any Windows 7 edition;
anycomputer Windows 7–capable
| Adds slightly improved
performance, gradients, and shading to the Windows Classic
experience. You can switch to Windows Basic mode by selecting
the Windows 7 Basic theme in the Personalization control
panel. |
| Windows 7
Standard | Any Windows 7 edition;
anycomputer Windows 7–capable
| Adds improved performance
and enhanced reliability to the Windows Standard experience.
Supports the new Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) to enable
smooth window handling, increase stability, and reduce glitches,
such as relics and slow screen refreshes while moving user
interface elements. Supports Windows Flip. |
| Windows
Aero | Windows 7 Home Premium
edition or higher; any Windows 7–capable computer | Builds on the Windows 7
Basic experience. Adds Aero Glass, transparency for all windows,
live preview, and Windows Flip 3D. |
Each user experience level builds on and includes the features of
the preceding level(s). If your computer has a low subscore for
processor, physical memory, general graphics, gaming graphics, or any
combination thereof, you may want to use the Windows Classic or Windows Basic experience level to improve your computer’s
performance. Figure 2
shows the look and feel of Windows Classic. Windows Classic and Windows
Standard offer similar user experiences. Generally speaking, if you want
to reduce the overhead associated with drawing gradients and shading,
you can use the Windows Classic experience and you won’t notice much
difference.
If your computer has an average to high score for processor,
physical memory, general graphics, gaming graphics, or any combination
thereof, you may want to use the Windows 7 Standard or Windows Aero experience level to improve your computer’s
appearance. Windows 7 Basic and Windows Aero offer very similar user
experiences. Figure 3
shows the look and feel of Windows 7 Basic.
Because of the previously listed feature differences among the
various experience levels, you’ll see related differences in the
interface. A rather subtle change that you’ll need to watch out for has
to do with the Window Color and Appearance page. Keep the following in
mind:
When you are using Windows Classic or Windows Basic,
you can set the user experience level and color scheme, but you
cannot mix colors or configure transparency settings. This is why clicking Windows
Color and Appearance opens the Appearance Settings dialog box rather
than the Windows Color and Appearance page in the Control
Panel.
When you are using Windows 7 Standard and Windows Aero, you
can use the Windows Color and Appearance page in the Control Panel
to change the color of windows, set color intensity, mix colors, and
enable or disable transparency. To display the Appearance Settings
dialog box so that you can set the user experience level and color
scheme, you must click the “Advanced appearance settings”
link.
