Have you ever wondered why you need to press Start to shut down the Windows? Until now, I still can’t find any logic to this. In Vista, this is even worst – the power button does not turn off your Windows, it put it into sleep mode.

Anyway, throwing logic aside, shutting down Windows has always been a lengthy process. You need to press Start -> Shut down, then choose Shut Down from the popup window. In Vista, you have to navigate to the small arrow at the bottom right of the Start menu and select Shut Down.

Luckily, there are more efficient ways to shut down your PC. In Windows XP and earlier version, free software such as Restart Windows, Quick ShutDown, AMP WinOFF that allows you to better manage the shut down process. These 3 small programs place a small icon on your system tray and you can shut down, restart or hibernate your Windows simply by double clicking on the icon.

And if you have Vista, these 3 programs are not going to work. However, you can download the Vista Shutdown Control sidebar gadget that allows you to shut down your computer from the sidebar.

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