spring into Windows XP Service Pack 2 [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Windows Explorer Defined

So just what is this creature anyway? More than a few experienced Windows users don't even realize that this tool has a name. Windows Explorer is the graphical file and folder management utility that is seamlessly integrated into the operating system, meaning that it can be launched from almost anywhere. Right-click on the Start Menu, for example, and you are using the Windows Explorer utility to explore the contents of the Start Menu.Chapter 5, "Customizing the Windows Interface," for information on how to change this).

It is important to realize that Windows Explorer is not Internet Explorer, although you can access Internet pages from Windows Explorer, just as you can after launching Internet Explorer. So is it an application or part of the operating system? It can all get very confusing, and Microsoft capitalized on this confusion when warding off lawsuits from Netscape.

Anyway, if you've recently made the switch to XP from a previous version of Windows, you'll quickly notice that this new Windows Explorer contains some significant differences. One is that the left side looks quite different.

The Explorer interface is still split into two panes, one on the left and one on the right. The left pane used to contain something called the Tree pane or folder list, depending on whom you asked. The right side then displayed the contents of your folder selection in the Tree pane.

In XP, though, the left side now shows a new pane called a Task pane, as shown in Figure 7-1. With the Task pane, you can perform a series of tasks on the objects you've selected in the Details pane (which is mostly unchanged from previous versions of Windows). These tasks include copying and moving files, sending email messages, displaying pictures and slide shows, and playing music. The tasks available will change depending on what you've selected in the Details pane.