Windows Vista Automatically Switches From Aero

I stumbled across an interesting Vista "feature" today. If you're working along and the OS can't handle showing the flashy Aero interface with the programs you're running, Vista will automatically switch to a less system-intensive theme.

The first time this happened, I thought my computer was massively wigging out on me. But after it happened a couple times, I realized it's the way it's "supposed" to work.

The ironic thing is that a website caused this mess. I was browsing along in Firefox, it froze, and Vista changed the theme. Once I closed Firefox, everything popped back to normal. Odd.

I guess I'd much rather have Vista switch up the way the computer looks than crash altogether. I can sacrifice flashy graphics for a few minutes, if it means I don't have to restart or something.