Suppose, for example, you configure a folder full of photos to show thumbnails. Vista will remember that setting the next time you open the folder. Meanwhile, a folder containing MP3s might have the regular old Details view, but with the files sorted by artist.

To reiterate: You can configure different views for different folders, and Vista will remember them from one session to the next. Very handy.

The trick, of course, lies in configuring specific folders so they work to your advantage. For instance, when I open documents in Word, I usually prefer to see each folder's contents in alphabetical order (i.e. sorted by name).

But when I'm blogging, I frequently need to pull a newly created screenshot or photo from the folder where I save blog images. In that instance, I've found it's better to sort by "Date modified." That way, the most recent addition(s) to the folder appear right at the top, making it a snap to find the image I need for a particular blog post.

Of course, this approach works for any folder that you access regularly. Getting back to Word, if I'm working on the same document for several days at a time, I'll again sort by "Date modified" so the in-progress document always appears at (or near) the top.