3.4. Icon and List Views Windows' windows look just fine straight from the factory; the edges are straight, and the text is perfectly legible. Still, if you're going to stare at this computer screen for half of your waking hours, you may as well investigate some of the ways these windows can be enhanced for better looks and greater efficiency. For starters, you can view the files and folders in an Explorer window in either of two ways: as icons (of any size ) or as a list. Figure 3-9 shows some of your options.  | Figure 3-9. The Views pop-up menu is a little weird; it actually has two columns . At right, it displays the preset view options for the files and folders in a window. At left, a slider adjusts icon sizes to any incremental degree of scalingat least until it reaches the bottom part of its track.
In any case, here's a survey of the window views in Vista. From top left: Icon view (small), Icon view (large), List view, Details view, and Tiles view. List and Details views are great for windows with lots of files. | |
Every window remembers its view settings independently. You might prefer to look over your Documents folder in list view (because it's crammed with files and folders), but you may prefer to view the Pictures folder in icon view, where the icons depict miniatures of the actual photos. To switch a window from one view to another, you have three options, all of which involve the Views pop-up menu shown in Figure 3-9: -
 Click the Views button . With each click, the window switches to the next view in this sequence: List, Details, Tiles, Large Icons. -
Use the Views pop-up menu . If you click the  triangle next to the word Views, the menu opens, listing Extra Large Icons, Large Icons, Small Icons, List, and so on. Choose the option you want. (Theyre described below.) -
Use the slider . The Views menu, once opened, also contains a strange little slider down the left side. It's designed to let Vista's graphics software show off a little. The slider makes the icons shrink or grow freely , scaling them to sizes that fall between the canned Extra Large, Large, Medium, and Small choices. What's so strange about the slider is that part way down its track, it stops adjusting icon sizes and turns into a selector switch for the last three options in the menu: List, Details, or Tiles. Try ityou'll see. -
Icon View . In an icon view, every file, folder, and disk is represented by a small picturean icon . This humble image, a visual representation of electronic bits and bytes, is the cornerstone of the entire Windows religion. (Maybe that's why it's called an icon.) What's especially cool is that if you make your icons big enough, folder icons appear turned 90 degrees. Now, in real life, setting filing folders onto a desk that way would be idiotic; everything inside would tumble out in a chaotic mess. But in Windowsland, the icons within a folder remain exactly where they are. Better yet, they peek out just enough so that you can see them. In the Music folder, for example, a singer 's folder shows the first album cover within; a folder full of PowerPoint presentations shows the first slide or two; and so on. (You can see the effect in Figure 3-9.) -
Tiles view . Your icons appear at standard size, with name and file details just to the right . -
List view packs , by far, the most files into the space of a window; each file has a tiny icon to its left, and the list of files wraps around into as many columns as necessary to maximize the window's available space. -
Details view is the same as List view, except that it presents only a single column. It's a table, really; additional columns reveal the size, icon type, modification date, rating, and other information. |
