Microsoft has shared more details about the graphical improvements you can expect from Windows 8 this October, not least of which is DirectX 11.1 and better hardware acceleration. Previous versions of Windows focused on 3D gaming performance, but Microsoft says 2D performance is just as important, especially for Metro.
“As you can see, we've done a lot of work to enable a very fast and smoothly animated user experience in Windows 8. From new ways to measure our progress, to optimizations for mainstream uses of our graphics platform, and new hardware features, we've created the best Windows graphics platform yet," wrote Microsoft's Rob Copeland.
The result of Microsoft's tinkering is a 150% increase in framerate compared to Windows 7 when rendering paragraphs of text. Rendering small chunks of text like those often found on interface controls such as labels and menus has improved 131% and heading-sized text used for titles in Metro style apps has improved 336%.
Improvements have also been made to 2D geometry rendering, the core graphics technology used to render tables, charts, graphs, diagrams and other user interface elements using HTML5 and SVG technologies for Metro style apps. Framerate increases 184% for the rendering of lines right through to 438% for rectangles.
A new feature, Target Independent Rasterization (TIR), has been developed for DirectX 11.1 GPUs to render irregularly shaped objects, like geographical borders on a map. The advancements mean fewer CPU cycles are spent on tessellation, allowing it to pump drawing instructions to the GPU faster without influencing visual quality.
If you want a quick way to adjust equalizer settings, you can add an EQ column in your view options. Go to View > View Options, and check Equalizer. The EQ column will appear with pull-down menus that let you choose the appropriate EQ setting. 
If IE runs too slowly, or if it freezes up on you a lot, try disabling some of its preinstalled add-ons. Click Tools > Manage Add-ons > Enable or Disable Add-ons to see which add-ons are enabled. Select an add-on you don't want preinstalled, then click the Disable radio button under Settings to deactivate it. 
If you don't want your temporary files hanging around, you can instruct IE to delete them automatically every time you exit the browser. Go to Tools > Internet Options and open the Advanced tab. Scroll down to the Security section, then click the checkbox next to "Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed." 
You don't have to hide or show all the icons in your system tray—you can control their disappearing acts. Right-click on the taskbar and select Properties. Click on the checkbox next to "Hide inactive icons" (if it's not checked by default), then click on the Customize button. For each item on this list, you can choose "Hide when inactive," "Always hide," or "Always show" options to decide what you'll see and when. 
Whether you have trouble with your hands or you just prefer using the mouse, typing with Windows' onscreen keyboard can be a great convenience. Navigate to Start > All Programs > Accessories > Accessibility, and click "On-Screen Keyboard." Click OK to clear the dialogue box and then start "typing"—you can even change the settings to "press" keys just by hovering your mouse over the letter you want (enable this feature by selecting "Typing Mode" from the Settings menu). 
