Tim Marman's Loosely Coupled

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• Start++ brings WDS shortcuts to the Vista start menu

  Brandon recently released a tool for Vista that brings Windows Desktop Search-style shortcuts to the start menu (and command line). Users of WDS on XP may recall the “Deskbar Shortcuts” functionality that allows you to create little aliases between words or characters with commands and searches. For example, you could set up the Deskbar so that you could type “g Stuff” to search for the work “Stuff” on Google. You could also launch programs, run scripts with parameters, and more. Windows Vista replaced the Deskbar with Instant Search built-in to the Start menu, which is totally awesome. Unfortunately, it lacks all of that fun shortcut functionality that the Deskbar had. Unless you have my tool, which for the time being I’m calling Start++. The commands can be stored and shared as XML files called startlets . Download Start++ here . Posted Mar 01 2007, 04:59 AM by Tim with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Productivity, Vista, Microsoft

• The Joys of Vista - New user folder structures

  In the past, we had C:\documents and settings\User\My Documents. Now we have C:\Users\User\Documents. Better yet, the Documents finally is just for documents. Instead of putting My Videos and My Music and My Pictures within the My Documents folder, they have been moved up a level and are now "even" with Documents. (I did something similar already to facilitate separate FolderShare libraries). Of course, there is still plenty of bad software out there that wants to clutter my Documents folder , but it's easier to manage with some of the stuff out of the way. Posted Jan 28 2007, 08:55 AM by Tim with | with no comments Filed under: Productivity, Vista, Microsoft

• The Joys of Vista - Search is Everywhere

  I already mentioned the updated Start Menu , which allows you to search. But there are Search Boxes literally everywhere in Vista that allow you to filter the results. This search box is in everything, including Windows Explorer. In Explorer, you can click the Save Search icon in the toolbar and save the current query as a search folder. Posted Jan 26 2007, 06:49 AM by Tim with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: Productivity, Vista, Microsoft

• The Joys of Vista - Quick Launch keyboard shortcuts

  You can launch programs in your Quick Launch toolbar using the Win+ position . So if you have Outlook as the second item in your Quick Launch toolbar, you can open it by pressing Win+2. ( via Lifehacker ) Posted Jan 25 2007, 06:28 AM by Tim with | with no comments Filed under: Productivity, Vista, Microsoft

• The Joys of Vista - The New Start Menu

  I absolutely love the new start menu. No more Start -> Run (Win+R). Instead, you can just press the Win key and start typing the name of the program you want to run. It even searches your favorites, history, documents and e-mail. In fact, I don't even really worry about organizing my Start menu anymore, because I never really see most of it. If you want Word, you hit Win and type Word and press enter. Between this and the Quick Launch shortcut keys, I don't have to touch the mouse. Posted Jan 24 2007, 06:21 AM by Tim with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Productivity, Vista, Microsoft

• The Joys of Vista

  I've been running Vista for awhile now off and on during the beta, and it's been on both my desktop and tablet since it was released to manufacturing. Though the cost may preclude some folks from running it, I've really fallen in love and I hate using XP at work. As they say, it's the little things - so as we lead up to the official consumer launch (and beyond), I'm going to start posting some of the features which have me hooked. If you have any to add, I'd love to hear them - please leave a comment. Posted Jan 22 2007, 05:20 AM by Tim with | with no comments Filed under: Productivity, Vista, Microsoft

• Windows SideShow in a bag

  This is very, very cool, and I want one now . Imagine, as Kevin puts it, seeing e-mails, contact info or RSS feeds without removing your device from the bag. Simply awesome. The only thing that concerns me is that the Eleksen Wearable Display Module will apparently "offer a gigabyte of memory". Personally, I would rather something that communicated over WiFi and/or Bluetooth with Vista's Away Mode . Posted Jan 17 2007, 09:18 PM by Tim with | with no comments Filed under: Technology, Gadgets, Productivity, Tablet PC, Vista, Microsoft