Here’s a list of the top five Windows Vista “hits”, according to CRN. Current users, do you agree with these choices? If not, please let us know your picks.
Sidebar + Gadgets
Gadgets are little applets that more or less permanently reside on the right side of your desktop. The ho-hum ones post the time and track the temperature. But there are others that’ll make you forget you ever considered solitaire a viable way to while away the workday. I’m talking about Video Poker and Sudoku. If ever there was an app that begged for a boss screen, Gadgets is it
Aeroglass UI
I’m impressed by Aero Glass. That’s Vista’s premium GUI option, featuring translucent elements. They’re see-through, and you can change both their color and level of transparency
Windows Vista Media Center
Media Center will catch on because it’ll serve as a one-stop content shop that’s up and running just as soon as your new PC is pulled out of its Best Buy box. That’s something Microsoft, and, separately, hardware vendors like Hewlett-Packard, have banged their corporate heads against the wall trying to do for years without success
Search and Security
The Windows Explorer file-directory tool has been outfitted with a new search function. No longer does Explorer morph its left side into a “What do you want to search for?” pane with that annoying little dog at the bottom. Now, the bar for searching through your files is located at the top of Explorer, and its appearance owes more than a little to OS X
Flip 3D
After the Aero Glass user interface, the feature that brings the most pizzazz to Vista is Flip 3D. This feature lets you stack up your open windows in a kind of flip-picture view in the middle of the screen, and scroll through them with the mouse to go back and forth among the apps
