Chapter 3: ManagingInformation

Overview

Microsoft Windows Vista includes many new features to help you manage information, whether that information resides on your computer, the company’s network, or the Internet. In this chapter, we’ll look at managing information on your computer. You’ll learn new ways of using Microsoft Windows Explorer to work with files and folders, adding keywords to files and tags to pictures and using virtual folders to save search results. You’ll also learn about the new desktop features, such as Windows Sidebar. In the next chapter, we’ll explore features for sharing documents with others through collaboration, sharing files and folders, and connecting to shared resources.

The primary means of working with files and folders in Windows Vista are the desktop and Windows Explorer. As in earlier versions of Windows, the desktop continues to be the main screen area and the place where you perform your work, and Windows Explorer continues to be the tool of choice for working with files and folders. What’s changed is that many new features have been introduced, and some previous features have been modified to work in different ways than they have in the past.

Note 

This book was written using the Windows Vista Beta to provide an early introduction to the operating system. More so than any other area of Windows Vista, the security features discussed in this book are subject to change. Some of the features might not be included in the final product, and some of the features might be changed substantially.