Disabling The 8.3 Filename Creation Process??

I have a Dell Dimension 8200 computer with windows XP Pro, using NTFS as my
file system. In one of the TechRepublic newsletters I received, it gave the
procedures for disabling the process where "Windows XP creates a 8.3
filename for each long filename that is created. The OS does this to
maintain backwards compatibility with older 16-bit applications. However,
the process of creating and maintaining 8.3 filenames adds a lot of overhead
that can significantly degrade the overall performance of the NTFS file
System. "

I don't use any old software programs on my computer. Would it be okay to
disable this feature? Thanks for any help, Sam.