As a power user I greatly value every effort to simplify common tasks like file operations and other every day stuff. Copying and moving files/folder is one of those things and Windows XP used to do a great job at this with its dynamic ‘File and Folder Tasks’ side-pane. I got used to the fact that these shortcuts appropriately adapt to whichever file type is under your cursor and presents you with a list accordingly. Until…

The new Explorer Shell in Vista incorporated a lesser dynamic sidebar that limits your options to well-known shell destinations like Documents, Music and Searches. The horizontal blue-greenish bar that runs across the window allows for some dynamic behavior, yet it’s limited to only opening stuff with certain applications.

Out of the box, there’s not much you can tag on outside of your own Favorite Links. Which, in retrospect, could come in handy.

1. Open up an Explorer Window, right click on some empty space and select ‘Open Favorite Links Folder’
2. Add new links by right clicking in an empty spot and selecting New > Shortcut
    
3. Follow the Wizard and presto!
   

The shortcut be anything, not just folders.

As I was listening to Dvorak’s 5 minute rant this morning (Tech5 at PodShow) he mentioned this article. He stabbed the life out of it and he was right too. It’s an amusing read, certainly if you keep one word in the back of your mind: FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt — as quoted by Michael Horowitz); utter gibberish spread to lure people away from XP in order to sell more Vista copies. I’m not saying moving to Vista isn’t a good thing (I, for one haven’t seen too many bad things about it, not more than I’ve experienced with XP), but it’s obvious they’re pulling the whole thing out of context here, as an advertising stunt.

First of all, running an XP machine with SP1 deserves death penalty. Second: who the heck doesn’t run any form of security app on this kind of machine?! This is beyond me, really. Nonetheless, it’s worth a read, even if it’s just for the sake of a good laugh.

From ZDNET.com:

… Connected a machine running Windows XP with Service Pack 1 to an unsecured wireless network. The machine was running no antivirus, firewall, or anti-spyware software …

“You can download attack tools from the Internet, and even script kiddies can use this one,” said Mick.

…

And blah blah blah. Funny. Ignorant.