Windows 7 Manager

Although Windows 7 looks nice and is easy to customize, you might want to tweak more than it allows you to.

This bundle of utilities, packed into one central program, gives you an easy access to all of the popular hidden tweaks without requiring you to hack the registry. Furthermore, it groups system settings better than your operating system, so you can quickly change the aspect or behavior of Windows. Also, some small tools like File Undelete might come in handy in emergency situations.

Like most tweaking utilities, you can improve your system's performance by adjusting the right settings. However, unlike most such programs, the developers made an extra effort by offering tips for almost every feature you want to change when you hover your mouse pointer above the option. Information is usually detailed enough to help even beginners understand what they're doing.

Obviously, when you change system settings there is a risk that something may go wrong. Fortunately, this piece of software backs up every change it makes so you can easily revert back to the original settings.

The current version of Windows 7 Manager now has the ability to check if your programs are digitally signed by Microsoft. Some minor user interface improvements should make everything look better on high DPI (dots per inch) displays but the most important addition is the support for Internet Explorer 11.

Although there are usually the more advanced users that want to go "under the hood", this app is so clean and well-explained through tool tips that beginners will also find it easy to use.