I always shut my computers down when I'm not using them. It's not so much to save energy, but to save money. I think the current way of opening your Start menu to click the arrow and then "shutdown" is too long of a procedure just to shut the computer off. Many people, I'm sure just press the power button or leave it on all day.
Here's an easy way to add a shutdown icon to your desktop in XP. Vista and Win 7.
Right click the destop and select New
Click "Shortcut"
In the box type exactly with the spaces shown below:
shutdown -s -t 00
Hit Enter
Next, name your shortcut. It will already say 'shutdown', but you can put whatever you choose.
Then hit enter.
It's time to customize your icon. Right-click the icon and choose "Properties", then select "Change Icon"
On the next screen, just pick the one you want to use and select OK
I chose to have the Alien head for my Alienware laptop
From now on you can just double click to shutdown your PC. No more having to go through the start menu. Even my 2 year old has mastered it.
TGS