My Tools > Options Settings

I've seen many people (myself included) make vocal arguments in favor of their own personal Tools > Options settings. Ultimately though, most of these settings come down to personal taste. Here now, are my personal preferences regarding many frequently-discussed Tools > Options settings, along with an occasional anecdote. Keep in mind that you can simply copy your LabVIEW.ini file from one LabVIEW installation to another to preserve these settings (so you don't have to go through and check/uncheck a bunch of options with every new LabVIEW install):

• Front Panel: Connector pane terminals default to Required: CHECKED - I really love this option, which was added in LabVIEW 8.5. There were so many times in the past when I was working on an app, and I'd add inputs to a subVI but forget to wire them up in the calling VI, then spend several minutes debugging before I figured out what I'd done. Also, this option is smart enough to ignore error input terminals, leaving them as Recommended.
• Block Diagram: Enable automatic error handling in new VIs: UNCHECKED - I understand that this option exists for the benefit of new LabVIEW users, but for the rest of us, it's just WRONG.
• Block Diagram: Enable automatic wire routing: UNCHECKED - I've tried this option a few times, but I think my manual routing of wires produces much cleaner diagrams.
• Block Diagram: Enable auto wiring: CHECKED - I remember when I worked in the AE department and hadn't yet joined LabVIEW R&D, I attended a "demo day" on the LabVIEW floor where all the LabVIEW developers were showing off the features they were working on. When I saw this one (called "wire kissing" at the time), I thought it was way cool. And I've been a fan ever since, especially for automatically wiring error clusters. Note that when you drop objects with Super Quick Drop, auto wiring does not occur...but it's a small price to pay in order to be able to code at lightning speed...
• Front Panel/Block Diagram: Labels snap to preset positions on terminals: CHECKED - Another one of my favorites...this one was under my radar until it just appeared one day in a build of LabVIEW 8.0. My boss is a bigtime pixel-counter, so it was nice to have a really quick way to drag a label into the correct spot.
• Block Diagram: Place front panel terminals as icons: UNCHECKED - In LabVIEW R&D there is one extremely fierce advocate of keeping this feature checked by default. He shall remain nameless. If he wasn't around, though, we probably would have changed this option long ago (I'd personally prefer that we just remove it altogether). Looking at the big picture, though, it's probably worth having this option checked by default and keeping this guy around. :)
• Block Diagram: Place structures with Auto Grow enabled: UNCHECKED - I take pride in the way my diagrams look, and I like having 100% control over how they look. The thought of dropping a function in a nested structure, and having a bunch of crap all over the diagram move around as a result...it's a little too much for me to take.
• Block Diagram: Show red Xs on broken wires: UNCHECKED - Originally this feature did not have an entry in Tools > Options...you either lived with it, or found out what the INI token was to disable it. I hated the feature so much, I demanded a Tools > Options checkbox. What I didn't know was that, at the time (LabVIEW 7.0), the Block Diagram page in Tools > Options was completely full, and required a complete reorganization to fit in this new option. You should have seen the sad look on the unnamed developer's face (yes, the same one who likes terminal icons) when he realized that he was going to have to add my option. For those of you who hate red Xs, you're welcome.
• Block Diagram: Show dots at wire junctions: UNCHECKED - I just think they're ugly.
• Block Diagram: Show constant folding of wires/structures: UNCHECKED - The fuzzy wires make my eyes hurt. And I never really saw any benefit to knowing when constant folding is taking place. Seemed like more of a novelty than a utility.
• Block Diagram: Auto-insert Feedback Node in cycles: UNCHECKED - Don't get me wrong, I really like Feedback Nodes as a replacement for Functional Globals. But every once in a while I'd be wiring up some stuff in a loop, and connecting wires to each other while re-wiring things, and somehow my broken wires would turn into Feedback Nodes, and that freaked me out. So now I only get Feedback Nodes if I explicitly drop them myself.
• Alignment Grid: Everything: UNCHECKED - I don't like the grid. It makes things look too noisy.
• Controls/Functions Palettes: Palette Loading: LOAD PALETTES DURING LAUNCH - As you hopefully know by now, this enables Quick Drop to be instantly usable on its first use, at the expense of a slightly longer LabVIEW launch time.
• Environment: Maximum undo steps per VI: 99 - I've never seen any performance problems with cranking up this setting.
• Environment: Skip Getting Started window on launch: CHECKED - Since my LabVIEW launch time is a little longer for Quick Drop, I figure I can save a second or so if I don't have to load the GSW...I never really used it for anything special that I couldn't access from a new VI's File menu.
• Environment: Lock automatic tool selection: UNCHECKED - I'm a big fan of the Auto Tool, but I do like being able to press Tab, like the good ol' days, if I really need to.

I may have missed some here and there, but that's good for a first pass. Commence arguing!