Windows has a multitude of settings most of which you can access via the Control Panel. To reach specific setting options, there are usually a few menus and submenus to wade through. As such, if you’re not sure exactly where specific settings are it might take a while to find them. To provide more direct access to settings in Windows, Techy Geeks have released Ultimate Settings Panel.

Ultimate Settings Panel is a portable app that includes all the primary settings in Windows, and Outlook, on a panel. You can add this software to Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8 from this page. There click the Download Now option to save the setup exe. Then run the setup exe to save it as a Zip file. To open the Zip file, right-click it, click Extract All and choose a destination for the extracted folder. Alternatively, you can also open the window below with the freeware 7-Zip utility.

The Ultimate Settings Panel window is divided into five tabs. Select the Windows tab to open a list of shortcuts to various settings. For example, from there you can open Windows Firewall, Keyboard, Fonts, Device Manager, Default Programs and more besides. Press one of the buttons to open the pertinent window as below.

Click on the General tab to open the window in the shot below. That is also dedicated to Windows, and includes shortcuts to Windows Explorer, Task Manager, Control Panel, Windows Slideshow, Folder Options, etc.

Ultimate Settings Panel also has an Outlook 2010 tab. Click on that tab to open the panel shortcuts below. There you can access a small variety of Outlook options and settings if you have the package.

So now you can open specific options and settings in Windows more quickly with Ultimate Settings Panel. It will certainly be handy if you are transitioning to Windows 8 because Microsoft have moved the settings around quite a bit in that OS. At the moment the software lacks options, but as it’s a new app Techy Geeks will probably add more to it in further updates.