The Windows taskbar is still one of the best user interface tools that Microsoft has ever devised, Windows 95's great window-management improvement. It places buttons on the taskbar for every application, folder, or other object you have open. The problem with the taskbar is that it's easy to forget what's in the windows, so it's hard to find the ones you want. But Vista has solved that problem with live thumbnails -- pop-up thumbnail tiles that show the contents of the window. To make them appear, you hover the mouse pointer over the taskbar button.

Two other window-management features are Flip and Flip 3D. Flip is an upgraded version of the Alt-Tab Task Switcher from earlier versions of Windows. Alt-Tab gives you a palette of all open programs -- you hold down the Alt key and cycle through those programs with the Tab key. The one that's selected when you let go of the Alt key will then open up front and center on your screen. What's different is that instead of names of programs with static icons, Flip uses the live thumbnails for those programs, which makes it a good deal easier to find what you want.

Flip 3D provides a 3D rendering of all your open windows. It lines them up in order, showing them from at a one-quarter angle, and marches them in procession. Flip 3D uses the Windows key and the Tab button, and it activates the window on top when you let go of the Windows key. Microsoft has added the "Switch between windows" icon on the Quick Launch menu, which lets you activate Flip 3D entirely by mouse. You can even use the scroll wheel to cycle forward or back through the windows. When you select the window you want, clicking the primary mouse button brings it to the front.

Rediscovering Windows Explorer

The lowly Windows Explorer window has gotten a pretty good makeover in Windows Vista. One of the best new folder features in Vista is called graphical breadcrumbs, a useful navigational tool.