I do feel that what something like this adds to the existing arrangement depends very much on the way information is provided. An experienced user can access these tools in various ways already. To return to the example I gave before, it still seems odd that I can save my sound settings (including volume) here, but not change anything except the card. That's not a problem for me, but if it still were (and it has been), I think I would be baffled just as much with a control centre as without one.
A minor point - it's "centre" in British English, which is what my locale is set as.
I notice the forum spell checker is also a yank! 
