Windows Effects - Registry

Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing. 

Display in Control Panel - Windows XP.
On the Appearance tab, click Effects. In the Effects dialog box, select the check box for those items you want to turn on.
Performance Information and Tools - Windows Vista and next.
Open the Control Panel (icons vew), and click on the Performance Information and Tools icon.
or
Type adjust perf in the Start Menu’s search box and then press Enter on your keyboard.

Show transition effects for windows, menus and lists (Windows XP)
This value controls which type of transitional effect to use when displaying Menus and Tooltips, allowing you to choose either the fade effect or the scroll effect.

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics]
MinAnimate
(0=disabled, 1=enabled)

Control the Windows Animation Function (All Windows)
Although the animation function can make animated Windows look good, it can also slow down your PC if you have a slower graphics card. This setting allows you to control whether the function is enabled or disabled.

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics]
MinAnimate
REG_SZ (String Value)
(0=disable, 1=enable)

---

Change the Menu Show Delay (All Windows)

Windows normally delays menus before they are displayed. For regular users this delay can become annoying, with this setting you to change the delay time or remove it altogether.

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
MenuShowDelay
REG_SZ (String Value)
0-999 (milliseconds) , (400 is default)

---

Animations in the taskbar and Start Menu

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
TaskbarAnimations
REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
(0=disable, 1=enable)
Mouse Hover Time
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse]
MouseHoverTime
0-999 (milliseconds) , (400 is default)

Taskbar Thumbnail Previews
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"ExtendedUIHoverTime"
dword:00000064 (0 default)

---

Aero Peek

(Windows Vista and Next)
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
DisablePreviewDesktop
REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)dword:00000001

---

Desktop Composition

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM]
"CompositionPolicy"=dword:00000000
(0=enable, 1=disable)
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DWM]
"DisallowComposition"=-
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DWM]
"DisallowComposition"=-

Reference:
http://www.pctools.com/
http://www.sevenforums.com/
http://www.microsoft.com/
http://support.microsoft.com/
http://technet.microsoft.com/