Add more ram and a graphics card. There is an alternative, "Disable Aero". However, vista without aero iis nothing but windows xp
Upgrade the CPU and RAM or uninstall the unnecessary applications. Upgrade to the faster hard drive such as 10k SATA.
No, I have not tried those tips. I think if you are running heavy applications on the Vista, no tricks will work unless upgrading the hard ware.
Best way to speed up Vista is to go back to XP j/k If your low on ram and have no option to upgrade you can try the Readyboost feature with a 2gig+ memory stick.
Windows Vista is really very slow and sometimes we feel to install XP again at least that was bit faster than Vista. Here are some tips for Vista to make a bit faster. clickonf5.org