Vista's hidden Aurora animation.
Actually this one can't really be classified as a 'handy tip', but its nevertheless an interesting one !
It appears that Microsoft loves Aurora's. Not only does Vista have a
Hidden Aurora Boot-Screen, there is also a "hidden" Aurora animation.
To see the magic just type "winsat aurora" in the start menu search box, and hit Enter.

To exit, click Esc.
There is a utility built into Windows Vista used for benchmarking,
called the System Assessment Tool; and it uses this Aurora animation.