If you want the best performance possible from a certain application (i.e. your favorite game, Photoshop, or Virtual PC) you can set the compatibility mode on that application to automatically disable Vista Aero when ran and automatically re-anable it when closed. To do this:
- Right-click the shortcut used to access the application and select “Properties”
- On the Compatibility tab, check the box to “Disable desktop composition” (for even more performance, you may also want to check “Disable visual themes”)
- Click OK on the properties window.