THINGS YOU MAY BE NOT KNOW ABOUT WINDOWS VISTA

Print without waste

Most of us have felt at some point the need to print out a web page. In XP, printing web pages could be a frustrating experience, with ink and paper wasted as elements of the page that fell outside of a conventional A4 sheet were printed on new pages. Internet Explorer 7, which is included with Vista, has a Print Preview tool that enables you to manage how pages print. To access it, click the down arrow next to the printer icon at the top-right of the window.

Protest against crashes

Everyone has experienced the frustration of losing work because their PC crashes. The reasons behind crashes are many, but Vista includes a feature called Resource Exhaustion   Prevention, which alerts you when Windows is showing signs that it can’t cope, giving you the opportunity to save work quickly and even avoid the crash by closing applications.

Boost your memory

The amount of memory in your PC is one of the key elements that dictates its performance. This is of importance when you’re working in applications that use lots of memory, such as video-editing packages, or when you have a number of programs running at once. Windows Ready boost is a clever way of adding more memory as needed using USB memory keys or Flash memory cards. When you plug in such a device, Vista will give you the option to use its capacity to boost memory.

Stop you getting lost

Vista includes an enhancement to the Windows Explorer navigation bar. The bar shows not just the folder you are currently  navigating but also the folders that you had to open to get there, meaning that there’s a visual trail of  ‘breadcrumbs’. Each folder in the trail has an arrow next to it – click it and Explorer displays the other folders it holds, making it easier to retrace your steps.

Sleep Easy

The older a PC gets, the longer it takes to start up and shut down as Windows launches or stops application and loads updates. Click the gold power button from the Start menu and Vista saves your current documents and settings before switching to a low-power state. This means that when you start the PC up again, the computer doesn’t have to go through that lengthy startup process. A real boon for people who use their PC often.

Make a Date

One thing XP users lack is a decent calendar. Vista corrects this oversight with a simple calendar that can even be shared online with family and friends. It’s a handy way for clubs and societies to keep track of activities when more than one member is organizing events, and can display a choice of four views, from a single day to the full month ahead.