Microsoft has released a free set of tools and programs for Windows XP that perform a variety of functions. Some of the programs include an addition to the Alt-Tab switching that shows you a preview of the selected window, a graphing calculator, a magnifier, and a photo album generator. I can’t put a link directly to them, so go to Microsoft and search for Windows XP power toys. (There is also a different set of power toys for Win 98 and ME)

Don’t like the search assistant in XP? Want to take “My Computer” off your desktop? Tweak UI for Windows XP can help you change these settings and several more. I can’t link directly to it, since it seems to move frequently, so go to Microsoft and search for Tweak UI. (There is also a version for Win 98 and ME)

If you’re not satisified with listening to a traditional internet radio station, why not create your own? Yahoo’s Launchcast let’s you specify what your station plays. You begin by telling Yahoo what genres that you like, then as each song plays you can rate the song, artist and album and Yahoo will create a playlist for you based on your ratings. You can also listen to My radio station.

If you like to use Google’s “I’m feeling lucky” button, then this tweak is for you. Now you can enter “goto (search term)” and perform a Google “I’m feeling lucky” search right from IE’s address bar.
Here’s How:

Open regedit
Navigate to “HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerSearchUrl”
Add a new key called “goto” (without the quotes)
Make the default string value “http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%s&btnI=I’m+Feeling+Lucky” (without the quotes)

Now open IE and type “goto (search term)” and see the results.