Windows Vista: The Missing Manual

Chapter 7. The Freebie Software

Even after a fresh installation of Windows Vista, a glance at your Start→All Programs menu reveals a rich array of preinstalled Windows Vista applications—as an infomercial might put it, they're your free bonus gifts. This chapter offers a crash course in these programs, a few of which could probably merit Missing Manuals of their own.

For your reference pleasure, they're described here semi-alphabetically—that is, just as they appear in the All Programs menu (Figure 7-1).

Figure 7-1. In Windows Vista, much more than in previous versions of Windows, many of the listings in the All Programs menu are nothing more than links to other programs and places on your PC. Many of the big-ticket items that appear in the All Programs menu have their own chapters or sections in this book.

For example, Accessories doesn't appear here first, because it appears way down the list in your All Programs menu.

Default Programs

All Versions

This item is a link to the Default Programs applet in your Control Panel. It's described in Chapter 8.

Internet Explorer

All Versions

Yes, it's that Internet Explorer—Microsoft's world-famous Web browser. Full details are in Chapter 11.

Windows Calendar

All Versions

It took until Vista for Microsoft to include a standard calendar program with Windows, but no matter; it's nice to have.

In many ways, Calendar is not so different from those "Hunks of ...