Windows Shell

Microsoft has made quite a number of changes to the Shell. When you looked at the screenshots of the Start menu on the previous page, you probably noticed that the My moniker has disappeared from items such as Documents, Pictures, Music and others. But the changes in Windows Vista run deeper than just a name change.

In Windows 2000 (and later in Windows XP), Microsoft introduced a new concept whereby a user's files are all positioned under the Documents and Settings folder structure. User accounts each have their own folder structure underneath the Documents and Settings folder in Windows XP. In Windows Vista, that has changed. The Documents and Settings folder has been replaced by a Users folder, under which you'll see the individual account-user folders (such as Administrator, Arie and Public in my case). Inside these folders you'll find folders like: Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Favorites, Music, Pictures, Videos, and Virtual Folders (Figure).

Virtual Folders is a concept introduced in Windows Vista that's like the old shortcuts put on steroids. Virtual Folders are not real folders but are XML-based containers linking to other files and folders. For example, the Pictures link from the Start menu is a link to the Virtual Folder All Pictures and Videos which would contain "pointers" to all pictures and videos stored on your system, so that it doesn't really matter where they are stored on your system, you'll be able to find them in this "folder". The advantage of Virtual Folders over the old shortcut is that Virtual Folders are dynamic; they are updated dynamically, so if a document or picture is deleted from the original location on the system, the Virtual Folder will no longer show that document or picture.

Windows Vista ships with a number of default Virtual Folders (eighteen in Beta 1) (Figure), and you can create your own. Virtual Folders are just a "front end" to a database query that contains a list of files on your system, showing you the end-result of the query (i.e. the system queries the file system for all files that are "image type" and "Video type" files when you view the All Pictures and Videos Virtual Folder.

The Computer link on Windows Vista's start menu is the equivalent of Windows XP's My Computer, and lists any hard drives, CD/DVD drives, Network Drives and removable drives on (or attached to) your system (Figure).

All shell windows display a preview pane, which can be manipulated by right clicking it (Figure). By default the preview pane shows at the bottom of most windows (although for some reason some show at the top, and cannot be adjusted), and can be displayed on the right side, or be hidden.

The new address bar (or breadcrumb bar) is quite powerful, and gives you the ability to quickly jump around your file system with ease. It features dropdown menus which makes navigating around your system quite a bit faster, giving users the ability to arbitrarily navigate back and forth into the file system from any point (Figure).

You'll also notice that Microsoft has done away with the standard menu (the menu containing File, Edit, View etc.), and instead is using a new menu that's a combination of menu and toolbar. In most Explorer windows you'll see these buttons:

• Organize button; which drops down a menu with choices like Rename, Move, Copy, E-mail, and Delete.
• Views button, which lets you choose the viewing detail like Details, Tiles, large Icons, Medium Icons and Small Icons.
• Settings button that reveals/hides or changes various navigation elements.
• Share button, which lets you share files or folders.

The preview pane (which is at the bottom of most Explorer windows) dynamically changes depending on the type of file that is selected. If you select a Word document for example, you'll see Date Modified, Keywords, Author, Rating, Size, Comments, Location, Project and Title information (Figure). A music file displays Album Title, Year, Rating, Duration, Genre, Track Number, Bit Rate, Protection and Size (Figure). You can resize the Preview pane, which reveals even more metadata information, or you can place it on the right side of the window by right-clicking the Preview pane and selecting Show on Right. You can also hide the Preview pane or change its size from the pop-up window that displays when you right-click it (Figure).

You'll also notice that a search box is built right into the top of Explorer windows, which gives you quick access to the Windows search engine, to search your computer's files (Figure).

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