Windows Search: Another great idea "borrowed" from the Mac (Spotlight, Apple calls it, although some say it was Apple that filched an idea that was first broached by MS), Windows Search features a fast search engine to find anything on your computer in seconds, with the search engine integrated at all levels of the file system - so that indexing is instant, incremental, and constant. Other programs, most notably Google Desktop Search (http://desktop.google.com) - which also will install Google Gadgets (see above) for the same money (free) - do the same thing, as do other programs, notably Copernic (http://www.copernic.com). However, if you want the pure Windows experience, you can have the very same search engine technology MS is using in Vista installed in your XP system. With Vista out for about a week now, I would have expected this (and the following MS goodie, Parental Control) to have disappeared for XP users - after all, Gates is in business to sell operating systems, not run a charity for needy computer users - but the links are still there. I guess it's a marketing method for Vista, or a way to get people used to the features they will eventually have when they upgrade to Vista. Whatever - you can download it for free from http://tinyurl.com/3cjdr6. Parental Control: Here is one feature that, although duplicable in native XP or with third-party software (as mentioned last week), is a real breakthrough for Vista. The ability to spy on the kids by generating user reports of where they surfed and what they did on-line is definitely a new approach, and is likely to be a real selling point for many parents who are mulling a Vista upgrade. Amazingly, however, you can get the same exact functionality (via a Microsoft monitoring site) within XP. All you have to do is surf to the Windows Live Onecare Family Safety Beta (http://tinyurl.com/o595x), sign up and install the software on your PC, and you're in business. Anytime one of your selected users (who must have their own accounts on the computer you're monitoring) go on-line, the site will record their actions and report yo you on demand - besides preventing site connections based on criteria you provide. The service is free, although it is in beta - but because this is a social service effort, it's likely to go on for awhile. If you've been searching for a way to monitor your kids' on-line wanderings, this is a great service, Vista or not. So there you have it - Vista on the cheap. By trying before you buy, you get to keep an open mind, as well as a full wallet. And who knows - maybe you'll find yourself joining the legions of "the others" (http://www.novell.com/products/desktop/compare-to-vista.html and/or http://www.apple.com/getamac).