[ddouglass]

MTU website is written for IE and not for Firefox. I am not versed in Firefox so can't help you with that part.
For the Sidebar, not all versions of Windows 7 or Vista for that matter have this feature. The instructions are written for all versions.
No one else has ever said anything about right clicking on the desktop not working. And this has always worked that way in all of Microsoft's operating systems. I find it hard to believe that short cut would no longer be there. When you right click do you see anything? Like a list of items? Is "Personalize" there? ( I believe step #4 should also be Personalize, not Properties). Since you found it through the Control Panel then I assume you already fix this much.
For the Aero Theme, this will also be in your display settings. If you do not have the Aero Theme selected then it is already disabled.
The link I gave you is the specific list for Windows 7, and the individual who created that list does use a Windows 7 computer, so according to his machine this is correct.