Windows Vista uses drop shadow for the text of the icons on the Desktop. Maybe it's my desktop image, but this drop shadow makes the text of the icons really hard to read. If you're having the same problem, here's how to turn off the drop shadow effect on the icon text and make the text more readable.

1 - From the Start menu, select the "Control Panel".
2 - Click on the "System and Maintenance" section.
3 - Click the "System" section.
4 - In the bottom right corner of the System window, select the "Change Settings" link. UAC may ask for approval for this. If you think you are worthy, give yourself approval.
5 - When the System Properties window opens, select the "Advanced" tab.
6 - Select the "Settings..." button in the "Performance" section. This will be the first section in the window.
7 - Select the "Custom" radio button and scroll down the options in the select box until you find a checkbox labeled "Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop" (it's almost all the way at the bottom). Uncheck this box.
8 - Click "OK" and your changes will be saved.