I'm a huge fan of sensible defaults and basic performance-related reporting. Rightly or wrongly, I assume that a plain default install is suitable for the normal use case whether we're talking about some small third-party utility, Microsoft Office, or SQL Server. I have to assume that, because my role as jack-of-all-trades means that I can't possibly know enough about everything to effectively tune an install. I can adjust settings as I learn more or discover problems, but I think the vendor has failed if they don't provide sensible defaults and post-install tuning recommendations that cover the basics.