Search and organization
This feature is included in the following editions of Windows Vista:
The enhanced desktop search and organization features in all Windows Vista editions help you readily locate files, e-mail messages, and other items on your PC. If you remember anything about a file—the type of file, when it was created, or even what it contains—Windows Vista can find it for you quickly.
Search
A new tool in Windows Vista called Instant Search helps ensure that you're never more than a few keystrokes from whatever you're looking for. Search boxes are available almost everywhere in Windows Vista. Just type a file name, a property, or even text contained within a file, and Instant Search will return pinpointed results.
With its fast-as-you-can-type search performance, the newly redesigned Start menu is your portal to virtually anything on your PC. To find a specific file, application, or Internet Favorite, just open the Start menu—or press the Windows key on the keyboard—and start typing in the embedded Instant Search box. As you type, Windows Vista instantly searches file and application names, metadata, and the full text of all files, and groups your results by category: Programs; Favorites/Internet History; Files, including documents and media; and Communications, including e-mail, events, tasks, and contacts.
The new Search Explorer.
The new Windows Vista Explorer showcases Instant Search in the top-right corner. It's always with you when you're using the Documents Explorer, Music Explorer, Pictures Explorer, and the new Search Explorer. As in the Start menu, you only have to type a few letters before you start seeing the most relevant results. If the results aren't what you're looking for, you have easy access to tools that can help you refine your search or search across the Internet using your favorite search engine.
Instant Search: available almost anywhere.
Instant Search also appears in the redesigned Control Panel and in Windows Internet Explorer 7, Windows Photo Gallery, and even Windows Media Player 11.
Organization
Although the new desktop search capabilities in Windows Vista fulfill many search needs, they are not designed to address every information management need. For instance, they do not readily help you find collections of similar files, such as files from the same project or author, and then share those files with other people, organize them, or move them around on your hard disk.
That's where the powerful Explorers extend the benefits of the new Windows Vista desktop search capabilities to the next level by combining Instant Search with the ability to auto-organize content across your PC based on file properties. Rather than having to remember specific locations or folder names to find your documents, music, pictures, and e-mail, you can rely on the ability of Windows Vista to search file properties known as "metadata."
Tagging your files
You can search and organize files in numerous ways, based on the metadata assigned to them. Many of your files already contain useful metadata. For example, Microsoft Office automatically records certain document properties, such as author and date created. And music ripped from CDs often has properties such as song, album, and artist name. But Windows Vista also gives you ways to apply custom properties to your files.
You can quickly and easily apply properties to any file or group of files in:
Details Pane. The easiest way to add a property to a file is to select the file and change it in the Details Pane at the bottom of the Explorer. Many of the entry fields support AutoComplete, making it even easier to add properties, for one file or across many files. Selecting multiple files and adding a property via the Details Pane adds that property to all selected files.
Properties window. You can still go to the familiar Properties window by right-clicking a file and selecting Properties. In the Details tab you have quick access to a file's metadata. One handy feature is the ability to remove all properties of a file with a single click, which can help you prepare a file for sharing with others by removing details such as the author's name.
Saving a file. Windows Vista features a new common File dialog box for opening and saving files. Applications that use this control enable you to use all of the innovative new searching and tagging features when you open and save files. To add properties when saving a file, you can enter properties directly into the appropriate field in the common File dialog box.
Windows Photo Gallery. Windows Photo Gallery enables you to import, edit, and tag photos. Any tags applied to photos are reflected in the Pictures Explorer.
Windows Media Player 11. Any changes made to properties of your music files are reflected in the Music Explorer.
Folders and Search Folders
Windows Vista also introduces convenient, customizable Search Folders. Clicking a Search Folder instantly runs a search. Windows Vista comes with many preconfigured Search Folders, such as "Important E-mail," which shows you all your flagged e-mail, and "All Attachme