I am a newbie too & miss the profiles which were available on Nokia and Sony Ericsson (K 750i) phones but when I had a look at the android market I found many apps there which could do the needful but keep in mind to check ‘
Permissions’) as I have found that many apps want rights to go where they have no business (IMO), of course that can be set at the top the page by selecting ‘
Safe Search Strict’ (my choice). There are three ways to select silent mode on your Ace
1) Thru the menu as you mentioned.
2) Drag down your notification bar & touch the ‘
Sound’ icon second from right which will go grey & become ‘
Vibration’.
3) Go to the ‘
Tel’ icon (Green icon, first from left) on your home screen & then on the top there is a ‘Keypad’ tab which will bring on the number screen. Keep your finger on the ‘#’ button & your phone will vibrate & go into ‘
silent’ mode.
The second & third option work for me as my settings is that the phone will vibrate on if silent mode is selected. ‘
Menu’->
’Settings’->
’Sound’
You might find my blog useful
http://socrates0.blogspot.com/2012/01/samsung-galaxy-ace-useful-points.html 