Yep, ATI Control Panel = NVidia Control Panel Extensions.

You SHOULDN'T mix driver revisions with ATI Control Panel revisions, as it can make for nasty driver problems. Say for instance a new feature was written into the 3.6 Catalyst drivers, and you only have the 3.5 Catalyst drivers installed. Installing the 3.6 Control Panel and attempting to enable that feature could crash your PC, as the code modifications to the driver don't exist in the previous package. Play it safe and keep the revisions the same, unless you like living on the edge.

There is absolutely no performance difference between running your Catalyst drivers with the ATI Control Panel or without the control panel.

(Just tested this fact on my system).

Omega's drivers increase performance and visual quality to levels that are better than the ATI Catalyst drivers.

Before you install the Omega's, make sure you uninstall any previous ATI Catalyst/Control Panel drivers & applications you had previously installed.