3 Lesser Known Features of Windows Vista

To be clear, these are features present in Vista, but not necessarily new. 1. Folder Toolbars (new) By dragging a folder to the top of your desktop screen, you an create a new toolbar for that folder, which shows some of the files within. It can be made bigger or smaller (to show more or less files) as well as choose between large icons and small icons, showing text or not, showing folder name or not, staying on top, or auto-hide. The toolbar isn't beautiful, but it's passable. It apparently cannot be moved to other sides of the screen, although you can get a four-arrow cursor by dragging on the folder name. Also, the selection is one-click, even though the graphics are the same as in a folder, which is a bit confusing. 2. The Run dialog and it's direct approach in Windows Vista (new and not new) The run dialog has always been one of my favourite features of windows, being a techy guy who likes shortcuts. It allows you to quickly run a program or open a folder (see next item). What I use it most for is the programs that aren't always easy to access, like Paint, Notepad, and Calculator. Instead of going into the start menu and looking for them, I can run them quickly with the Run dialog. Since the default path is C:\WINDOWS\system32\ , you don't even need a path. All I type is "mspaint", "notepad", or "calc" (their respective file names, without the extension). In Vista, you don't even need to click the "Run" button in the start menu. You can just enter everything in the search bar! Make sure it doesn't conflict with search entries, though. 3. System and User Variables (not new) I love this feature. By going into the Control Panel, System and Maintenance, System, Advanced System Settings (on the left) and clicking on "Environment Variables", you can edit the User and System Variables. These are essentially shortcuts to be used in the Run dialog and other rare circumstances. All you have to do is set up the variable (such as "pf") and the Value (such as "C:\Program Files"). If there ever a program or folder you are always running/accessing via the Run dialog, this is perfect for you. I always use it for program files. It makes things very easy.