Logitech MX Revolution

Windows Vista includes an extremely useful utility called Mobility Center, designed forlaptop users to give you lightning quick access to all functions that a mobile user would need.

Open Mobility Center

Use the hotkey Win+X to quickly launch mobility center. You could also find it in the Start menu.

Windows Mobility Center Features

Mobility Center gives you access to features relevant to laptop users. This is a quick overview.

Display Brightness By default Windows Vista dims the screen when on battery mode. You can easily adjust the brightness here.
Volume You can easily change the volume or mute it entirely.
Battery Change the current power management scheme.
Network Center Quickly turn wireless networks on/off.
External Display Change your external display settings. Just click the Connect display button to choose how you want the display.
Screen Rotation If you have a Tablet PC, you can change the rotation of the screen quickly.
Sync settings Sync offline folders or devices quickly.
Presentation Settings Connect to a projector easily.

Tips

You can use the tab key to navigate through the items, or use the quick access hotkeys. For instance:

Mute Volume Win+X then Alt+M

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WIndows Vista includes a file encryption technology very similar from a user perspective to the one that existed in Windows XP, but Vista makes it very easy to make a backup of the file encryption key. In XP, your encrypted files would be lost if you changed your password. In Vista, an encryption key is used to sign the encrypted files, which also means it can be backed up.

It’s critically important that you make a backup of your encryption key if you decide to use the encryption features. Thankfully Vista reminds you immediately after the first time you encrypt a file.

To use the Wizard to back up the encryption key, just click on the popup notification when it comes up.

Select “Back up now” from the wizard screen.

Hit next… You may as well select all the possible information to back up, in case you have multiple keys for some reason.

You’ll have to enter a password for the key. This password will be used if you try and restore the encryption key later. Make sure

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Microsoft Wireless Entertain Desktop 7000

Sarah Perez from Channel 10 has blogged about the new Expedia Fare Alert Gadget for Windows Sidebar in Windows Vista. Just like Josh from Windows Connected, I find this Gadget extremely useful for keeping track of destinations I regularly visit such as Seattle or Las Vegas.

The Expedia Fare Alert Gadget lets you create alerts for fares for specific destinations. You can create up to three alerts for different destinations. You can set the fare price you’re looking for per destination and the Gadget will alert you if it finds fares that meet your price through Expedia.com.

Download the Gadget for Windows Sidebar.

Pretty useful Gadget to have running on your Sidebar if you travel quite a bit.