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Chapter 2: Optimizing Windows Vista’s Interface

Customizing Menus and the Control Panel

As you’ve seen, the desktop has many customizable features. You also can customize

your computer’s menus and Control Panel, and this section shows you how to do it.

Navigating and Customizing Your Computer’s Menus

When you want to work with programs installed on a computer, you’ll use the All

Programs menu, as with earlier releases of Windows. When you click the Start but-

ton and then click All Programs, you’ll see a list of programs installed on the com-

puter, followed by a list of folders.

Depending on the system configuration, the programs you’ll see include:

Default Programs

Opens the Default Programs dialog box, which you can use to configure default

programs and features, as discussed in Chapter 4

Internet Explorer

Opens Internet Explorer, which you can use to browse the Web, as discussed in

Chapter 7

Windows Calendar

Opens Windows Calendar, which you can use to manage appointments and

tasks using a calendar, as discussed in Chapter 16

Windows Contacts

Opens Windows Contacts, which you can use to manage personal and business

contacts, as discussed in Chapter 16

Windows Defender

Opens Windows Defender, which you can use to protect your computer from

malware, spyware, and other malicious programs, as discussed in Chapter 15

Windows DVD Maker

Opens Windows DVD Maker, which you can use to burn DVDs, as discussed in

Chapters 8, 9, and 10

Windows Mail

Opens Windows Mail, which you can use to send and receive email, as dis-

cussed in Chapter 16

Windows Media Center

Opens Windows Media Center, which you can use to manage home entertain-

ment options for pictures, videos, movies, TV, and music, as discussed in

Chapter 25

Windows Media Player

Opens Windows Media Player, which you can use to view pictures, play music,

and play videos, as discussed in Chapter 8

Customizing Menus and the Control Panel

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Windows Movie Maker

Opens Windows Movie Maker, which you can use to make movies, as dis-

cussed in Chapter 10

Windows Photo Gallery

Opens Windows Photo Gallery, which you can use to view and manage digital

images, as discussed in Chapter 9

Windows Update

Opens Windows Update, which you can use to keep your operating system up-

to-date, as discussed in Chapter 20

The folders under the All Programs menu have also changed. The changes to the

menu may take awhile to get used to. Still, once you get used to the changes, navigat-

ing the menus will be fairly painless. The top-level folders are:

All Programs

➝ Accessories

Provides access to the most commonly used accessories, including the Calcula-

tor, Command Prompt, Connect to a Network Projector, Notepad, Paint,

Remote Desktop Connection, Snipping Tool, Sync Center, Windows Explorer,

and Windows Sidebar.

Out of all the new accessories, the Snipping Tool is my favorite. You can use it

to capture portions of a screen and then save, annotate, or share the captured

snippet. By default, the Snipping Tool always captures portions of the screen to

the clipboard, making snippets available in other programs as well.

All Programs

➝ Accessories ➝ Ease of Access

Provides access to the accessibility tools, such as the Ease of Access Center, Mag-

nifier, Narrator, On-Screen Keyboard, and Windows Speech Recognition. The

Ease of Access Center provides a central console for managing accessibility

options.

Windows Speech Recognition is one of the most powerful new accessories. With

the help of a microphone, this accessory allows you to train your computer to

recognize your voice. You can then dictate and control your computer by voice.

All Programs

➝ Accessories ➝ System Tools

Provides access to commonly used system tools, such as Backup, Disk Cleanup,

System Information, System Restore, and Windows Easy Transfer. Windows

Easy Transfer replaces the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard in Windows XP.

Also includes Internet Explorer (No Add-ons), which is a protected version of

Internet Explorer without browser extensions or other add-ons. You can use this

version of Internet Explorer to protect your computer from potentially mali-

cious web sites and programs.

All Programs

➝ Games

Provides access to Microsoft games installed with the operating system. The

games available depend on the edition of Windows Vista you are using.