I've been running Vista Ultimate on all of my machines since it was released last year, and generally I'm very happy with the new features. I would find it frustrating to move back to XP after becoming accustomed to pervasive search, the sidebar with all of its gadgets, the simplified networking, the lovely aero [1] Windows experience, the integrated photo gallery, launching applications from the search box on the start menu, the grouping and stacking in explorer, etc.
There are however two features I find myself missing in day-to-day work that I used to use frequently in XP:
- The first is when I'm in an explorer window, selecting a directory and hitting Ctrl-Enter used to launch a new explorer window opened to that directory. I used this all the time to essentially bookmark a location I needed to keep open to transfer/work with files, while continuing my navigation in the primary window.
- The second is the ability to detach the Quick Launch toolbar from the Task bar. I used to keep the Quick Launch bar oriented vertically on the left side of my screen as a convenient way to launch common applications, leaving the taskbar with plenty of space to show notification icons in the system tray and running applications. I can't seem to detach the Quick Launch bar from the task bar anymore in Vista, so they are forced to be colocated at the bottom of my screen (I can move the entire bar, but not the QuickLaunch bar separately).
If anyone has a solution to either of these issues, I'd love to hear them!
[1] Did you know Aero is supposedly an acronym, standing for
Authentic,
Energetic,
Reflective, and
Open? At least according to
Windows Vista: The Missing Manual, from which I've picked up quite a few tips and recommend as a way of filling out holes in your knowledge of Vista.
Posted
Apr 13 2007, 09:10 AM
by
fritz-onion