This part of the book is designed to give you an overview of Windows Vista and to introduce the concepts used throughout the rest of the book. It consists of two chapters:

Chapter 1, The Lay of the Land , gives you a brief guided tour of Windows Vista, highlights all the major changes to the operating system, details its hardware requirements, and offers a comparison of the various versions of Windows Vista and their features.

Chapter 2, Using Windows Vista , covers the basics of using Windows, such as starting applications, manipulating files, and getting around the interface. Even if you know your way around previous versions of Windows, this chapter will be helpful, because a lot has changed with Windows Vista.

This part of the book contains alphabetically organized references for each major element of Windows Vista. To make it easier to find the element, tool, feature, or program you’re looking for, it’s organized by topics, such as Internet Explorer; Networking, Mobility, and Wireless; and so on. This section is the comprehensive reference that covers all the programs that come with Windows Vista, those listed in the Start menu and Control Panel, and those available only if you know where to look. For GUI-based applications, the book focuses on nonobvious features and provides helpful hints about power-user features and things that will make your life easier. For command-line-based programs, all options are covered, since these programs are not as obviously self-documenting (though many do support the conventional /? command-line option for help).

Chapter 3, The User Interface , is a thorough examination of the elements that make up the Windows Vista graphical user interface. It covers in detail new features such as Windows Aero, transparent windows, Windows Flip and Windows Flip 3D, and the Windows Sidebar and associated Gadgets. In addition, it covers the basics of windows, menus, buttons, listboxes, and scroll bars, as well as how to make the most of the Taskbar and how to use any component of Windows with only the keyboard.

Chapter 4, Working with the Filesystem, Drives, Data, and Search , covers all aspects of files and the filesystem, including the myriad new features of Windows Explorer. In addition, it covers the new search features of Windows Vista in great detail.

Chapter 5, Internet Explorer , details all aspects of the revamped browser in Windows. It covers tabbed browsing, the new antiphishing filter, RSS feeds, the Search Bar, and virtually all of Internet Explorer’s other features, tools, and settings.

Chapter 6, Windows Mail , puts the spotlight on the email program formerly known as Outlook Express. In Windows Vista, Microsoft has clearly decided to make the email client built into Windows a serious piece of work. The new features extend well beyond merely renaming the program.

Chapter 7, Networking, Wireless, and Mobility , covers wired and wireless networks, as well as laptops and mobile computing. Almost everyone these days is a system administrator of some sort, even if it’s only for a two-PC home network sharing an Internet connection with a printer attached. So this chapter delves into small networks in some detail, including wireless networks, wireless connections, public hotspots, and similar matters. It also covers the entirely new networking interface, new networking applications such as the collaboration tool Windows Meeting Space, and the Sync Center, which makes it easy to synchronize files among different computers and devices.

Chapter 8, Security , covers the myriad new security tools built into Vista, with an emphasis on Internet security. (Windows Vista has a greater emphasis on security than previous versions of Windows, so security gets its own chapter.) Among the topics covered are the Security Center, Windows Defender, User Account Control, System Protection, Network Access Protection, the Windows Firewall, file encryption, and Windows Update. The chapter shows how you can use Windows Vista to make your PC as secure as possible, and includes hidden ways to configure security, such as how to customize the Windows Firewall’s outbound port filtering.

Chapter 9, Working with Hardware , covers everything about setting up, maintaining, and troubleshooting hardware, including keyboards, mice, monitors, USB devices, input devices, scanners, cameras, sound devices, and printers. It also covers adding, installing, and troubleshooting drivers.

Chapter 10, Managing Programs, Users, and Your Computer , covers how user accounts work on Windows Vista, and how to make best use of them. It details Group Policy and user profiles, and it spends a good amount of time on the new User Account Control features, and on the difference between running as a normal user and as an administrator.

Chapter 11, Performance and Troubleshooting , covers all of the performance and troubleshooting tools in Windows, including backup, disk defragmentation, System Restore, the Performance Diagnostic Console, Task Manager, system maintenance tools, and much more.

Chapter 12, Graphics and Multimedia , covers music and video playing and production, as well as new features that make it easier to connect a variety of multimedia devices to a PC. It includes the new Windows Media Player, the Media Center, connecting to and syncing with MP3 players, making videos with Windows Movie Maker, burning CDs and DVDs, and more.

Chapter 13, The Registry , describes the organization of the Windows XP Registry, the central configuration database upon which Windows and all of your applications rely to function and remember your settings. The Registry Editor, the primary interface to the Registry, is covered here, along with some of the more interesting entries scattered throughout this massive database.

Chapter 14, The Command Prompt , provides complete documentation on this often overlooked and underestimated part of the operating system. In addition to learning the ins and outs of the Command Prompt application, you can look up commands and find exactly what options they support. Batch files, a quick and easy way to automate repetitive tasks, are also covered.

This section includes various quick reference lists.

Appendix A, Installing Windows Vista , covers everyone’s least favorite activity. In addition to documenting the various installers and options, the chapter includes a number of pitfalls and solutions that will apply to nearly every installation.

Appendix B, Keyboard Shortcuts , gives a list of keyboard accelerators (also known as hotkeys) used in all parts of the Windows interface.

Appendix C, Keyboard Equivalents for Symbols and International Characters , explains how to type the symbols and international characters normally accessible only with Character Map.

Appendix D, Common Filename Extensions , lists many file types and their descriptions. This appendix is useful when you’re trying to figure out how to open a specific file and all you know is the filename extension.

Appendix E, Services , lists the background services that come with Windows Vista and their respective filenames. If you need to find a service, or simply need to determine the purpose of a particular program shown to be running in the Windows Task Manager, this appendix will provide the answer.