ITnsomnia

In Vista it is now possible to select files/folders using check boxes in Windows Explorer.

By default this option is disabled. If you want to enable it click, on the Organize button in a Windows Explorer window, then choose Folder and Search Options. In the Folder Options window go to the View tab and tick the “Use check boxes to select items” box.

This option is especially handy for people who are new to computers or who don’t know how to use the Ctrl or Shift buttons.

The Volume Mixer underwent some changes in Vista. It is now possible to change the volume on a per application level, if it uses sound of course.

I use it to mute the audio for FeedDemon, cause I have some feeds that have

Before Vista if you had more than one monitor, spanning a Desktop background involved using 3rd party software like UltraMon.

In Vista you can choose your background then select Tile at “How should the picture be positioned?”, and your background is spanned across your monitors.

If Microsoft could just add the taskbar to your second monitor …

This must be the most useless thing Microsoft introduced since the puppy who appeared in the Windows XP search.

I must admit I also fell for it, Windows Flip 3D ( Windows key + Tab) was the first thing I tested out when I installed Vista for the first time a couple of months/ a year ? ago.

Me personally, I think Flip 3D was seriously overhyped. The only good thing in the new Windows Flip thingy is that you can flip to your Desktop.

However what I do find useful is the small window previews you see when moving your mouse over the task bar.

Although it’s been possible for a long time to open a command box in Windows XP by using the right click context menu. (using a registry edit). I do think it’s worth to mention that Vista has this feature builtin.

Also it’s now possible to copy the entire path of a file or folder to the clipboard from the context menu. In the past you could accomplish this by copying the path from the address bar, but this did not include the filename.

To access both options you need to Shift+Right click the folder or file.

A very useful new feature introduced in Vista is called Favorite Links.

You can add Favorite Links to any folder you want. Just drag & drop the folder in the Favorite Links.

Favorite Links are also accessible from standard Save As/Open etc. dialog boxes.

This could save you some work if you frequently need to access folders deep in your directory structure.

Favorite Links are stored in %userprofile%\Links