Free WAppz: Hidden Vista tricks that can make you more productive

Takeaway: There are literally hundreds of new features and hidden tricks in Vista. Here are a few that will be helpful to you as you begin to get accustomed to using the new Windows Vista operating system.

If you've installed the new Vista OS, chances are good that you're
looking in every nook and cranny for all of the hidden tricks to using its new
features. Of course, there are literally hundreds of new features and hidden tricks
in Vista. It would be impossible to uncover or reveal,
all of these hidden tricks in one article. But I’ve chosen a few that I think
will be helpful to you as you begin to get accustomed to using the new Windows
Vista operating system. Let’s take a look.

Launching your favorite applications with the [Windows] key

In the article, Customizing
Vista's Taskbar and Start Menu, I showed you how to put the main area of
the Start Menu to much better use by configuring it as a launching area for all
the programs you use most often. However, Windows Vista provides you with an
even better way to quickly access your favorite applications--you can assign
them to special [Windows] key combinations.

To take advantage of this hidden trick, all you have to do
is add the shortcuts to your favorite applications to the Quick Launch toolbar,
which you can do with a simple drag and drop operation. You can have up to 10
shortcuts on the Quick Launch toolbar to use with the [Windows] key. By
default, the Show Desktop and the Switch Between
Windows/Flip 3D shortcuts are already on the Quick Launch toolbar, so with the idea
that you’d leave them there, you can add up to 8 additional shortcuts.

Moving left to right, the first shortcut on the Quick Launch
toolbar is automatically assigned to [Windows]+1, the
second shortcut to [Windows]+2 and so on. The tenth shortcut on the Quick
Launch toolbar is automatically assigned to [Windows]+0.
By unlocking the Taskbar (via a simple right-click on the Taskbar and clicking
Lock the Taskbar) and expanding the Quick Launch toolbar, as shown in Figure A,
you can use drag and drop to arrange the shortcuts in any order that you want.

Figure A

In this Quick Launch toolbar arrangement, [Windows]+6
launches Notepad while [Windows]+0 launches the new Windows Vista Snipping Tool.

Once you memorize which numeric [Windows] keys are assigned
to which application shortcuts; you can resize the Quick Launch toolbar to its
default size and relock the Taskbar, as shown in Figure B. This lets you use
the all the space on the Taskbar as you normally would and still be able to
launch any of your applications with a simple [Windows] keystroke.

Figure B

You can resize the Quick Launch toolbar so that it doesn’t take space away
from the Taskbar, yet still access the shortcuts via the [Windows] key
combinations.

Other Win Key combinations

Here are a couple of other handy [Windows] key shortcuts:

[Windows]+T:
Cycles through programs using the Live Taskbar feature.

[Windows]+[Spacebar]: Brings the Windows Sidebar to the
foreground.

Using the mouse wheel to change the icon views

If you’re using Windows Explorer to work with your files and
folders, you’ve probably already discovered the new Views menu. You just click
the arrow next to the Views icon on the toolbar to bring up the Views menu, as
shown in Figure C, and then drag the slider up or down to change the size and
appearance of the file and folder icons.

Figure C

The slider on the Views menu has seven settings that range from Extra Large
Icons to Tiles.

While clicking the icon and dragging the slider is simple
enough there is an easier way. Simply hold down the [Ctrl] key and scroll your
mouse wheel up and down to resize the icons from Tiles to Extra Large Icons.

Using the [Ctrl] key and the mouse wheel combination also
works on the Desktop. While the Desktop is selected, just hold down the [Ctrl]
key and scroll your mouse wheel up and down to resize the icons from a microscopic
16 x 16 all the way up to huge 256 x 256 renditions.

Reveal the Menu Bar in Windows Explorer

As you can see in Figure D, the Menu Bar in Windows Explorer
is no longer visible. However, it's still there, as shown in Figure E. Just
press [Alt] key to toggle the Menu Bar on and off.

Figure D

The Menu Bar no longer appears in Windows Explorer default layout configuration.

Figure E

Pressing the [Alt] key temporarily brings the Menu Bar back into the
layout.

If you’d rather have the Menu Bar visible all of the time,
just click the arrow next to the Organize icon on the toolbar, open the Layout
submenu and select Menu Bar, as shown in Figure F.

Figure F

You can make the Menu Bar visible all of the time from the Layout menu.

The Menu Bar is no longer visible in Internet Explorer 7
either; however, you can use the same trick--just press the [Alt] key to toggle
the Menu Bar on and off. If you want the Menu Bar visible all of the time, pull
down the View menu, open the Toolbars submenu, and select Menu Bar.

Instantly copy a path to the Clipboard

Have you ever wanted to obtain a copy of the path of a file
nested deep down in your hard drive’s organization structure? If so, you know
the drill, launch Windows Explorer, traverse the directory to the file, select
the contents of the address bar, copy the path, paste it in Notepad, and then
type the filename itself.

Fortunately, with Windows Vista, you no longer have to
perform such acrobatics just to get the path to a file. All you have to do is
hold down the [Shift] key, right-click on the file or folder, and select the
new command titled Copy as Path, as shown in Figure G. When you do, the path to
the file or folder is copied to the Clipboard and you can simply paste it
anywhere you want.

Figure G