Chapter 2:
Working with Windows Vista
29
Windows XP, Control Panel in Windows Vista has two views:
■
Category Control Panel, or simply Control Panel, is the default view and provides access
to system utilities by category and task.
■
Classic Control Panel is an alternative view that provides the look and functionality of
Control Panel in Windows 2000 and earlier versions of Windows.
With Windows Vista, Microsoft finally got the marriage of category, task, and utility access
right in the default Control Panel view—so much so, in fact, that you might want to say good-
bye to Classic Control Panel forever. Here’s how the Category Control Panel works now:
■
Control Panel opens as a console in which 10 categories of utilities are listed. Each cate-
gory includes a top-level link, and under this link are several of the most frequently per-
formed tasks for the category.
■
Clicking a category link provides a list of utilities in that category. Each utility listed
within a category includes a link to open the utility, and under this link are several of the
most frequently performed tasks for the utility.
■
In Category Control Panel view, all utilities and tasks run with a single click. When
you’re browsing a category, the left pane of the console includes a link to take you to the
Control Panel Home page, links for each category, and links for recently performed
tasks. It’s all very efficient, and very easy to use.
Figure 2-6 shows the Control Panel Home page. From any category page, you can access the
home page by clicking the Control Panel Home link in the upper-left corner of the Control
Panel console.
Figure 2-6
Control Panel
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