There's an awful lot of extensions in your system folder you simply don't need. Find out what they all do and remove the ones you won't be needing

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There is an app (a self-contained document really) called InformINIT which lists and describes all the extensions, control panels and other system folder items up to MacOS 8.1 (InformINIT 8 ), including optional third-party ones. It is searchable. This is an invaluable aid in working out what you can remove, and what you ought not.

There is no need, most of the time, for a third party extensions manager.

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That's true, up to a point. Extensions Manager is adequate for most purposes. However, EM will not show every extension or CP, declaring some off-limits and invisible to the user. The third-party manager Symbionts (and, IIRC, Conflict Catcher) will show every item in those two folders, as well as other system folder items which can be "managed" (moved to non-active folders). If one wants to create the smallest possible system folder, for example for a RAM-challenged system, it does a more thorough job.

Back in my System7/MacOS 8 days, I used to keep different, named, sets of INITs in Symbionts for different purposes, and re-start between them: for example, one set for internet, one for diagnostics and troubleshooting, and one for MIDI and music. Having only the minimal required INITs for each purpose seemed to help with stability.