Windows only: Replacement file manager Double Explorer adds tabbed browsing and a dual-pane view for navigating your files, but unlike a full replacement application, it embeds a normal Windows Explorer screen into each pane.
Windows only: Explorer's integrated search is fine for most things, but more powerful searches or sorting through long lists of similar files isn't exactly easy—Listary gives you hotkeys, wildcards, and commands to help you quickly find anything in a folder.
Windows only: Portable system tweaking utility ShellMenuNew displays a list of all the items in the Windows Explorer "New" menu, and allows you to disable them easily.
If you've settled into Windows 7 but find the change in the functionality of the backspace key while browsing files to be too much to bear, use this simple hack to turn the backspace key back to its XP state.