PC Tonic

Windows Vista is almost 2 years old, and will soon be overwhelmed by it’s successor – Windows 7. But there’s no denying the fact that Vista is HUGE, and there is a good chance you still might not have found out some of it’s hidden features.

Tablet PC Input Panel

Windows Vista included a cool new feature for Tablet PCs (handheld devices with a touch screen) called Tablet PC Input Panel <TPIP>. This feature is, however, available in desktop versions of Vista as well. This tool includes a writing pad, a character pad, and an on-screen keyboard. While not practically useful in desktops and laptops, you can still have fun fiddling around with it with your mouse. To access this feature, right click on the taskbar and select Tablet PC Input Panel from Toolbars.

Windows Vista Demos

Very much like the “Windows XP Tour” feature in it’s predecessor, Windows Vista includes a handful of video demonstrations designed to introduce you to personal computing and the operating system itself. To access these videos, go to Welcome Center under Control Panel, and select “Windows Vista Demos” under “Get Started with Windows” (you’ll have to click on Show all 13 items…).

Gadgets are removable from the Sidebar

Windows Vista included a new feature called Sidebar, where you can add from a given list of gadgets. Sidebar was an innovative feature, but it took too much of the desktop space and abusively ate memory, and has subsequently been discarded in Windows 7. 7 sports freely floating desktop gadgets, which run pretty independent on one another. However, you can actually detach the gadgets from the Vista Sidebar as well and place them anywhere on the desktop! Right click any gadget, select “Detach from Sidebar”, and drag it over to anywhere on the desktop. The gadgets will continue to depend on the Sidebar, but at least they WILL float freely around your desktop. 

So here are the three Vista features that might have eluded you so far. What other Vista features do you think need more attention than they’ve received? Speak out in your comments.