The Display Control Panel, which was conveniently accessed by right-clicking the desktop and choosing Properties in previous versions of Windows, is like the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz. Pieces of it are here, there everywhere.

Previously, a neat tabbed dialog handled Themes, Desktop (including desktop icons), Screensaver, Appearance customizations and video card/monitor settings such as resolution and color depth. Apparently, that was too difficult for newbies to grasp. Vista offers the new "Personalization" Control Panel, which bewilderingly places some items on the left side as hyperlinks and others as major settings areas on the right with icons, larger headings and descriptive text. As if the tabbed dialog didn't have enough stuff, Personalization adds Sound Effects and Mouse Pointers. It sounds like it's a good organization, but the net effect is that there are more clicks and more clicking around to find the settings that were once clustered together -- where they belong. Of all the makeovers in Vista, this isn't the worst one. But it is the first one you'll likely notice and be less than thrilled about.

10. Where are the file menus?

OK, this is smart. Take a primary interface structure in use for more than 20 years and already known to hundreds of millions of computer users worldwide, and hide it from them. This appears to be a Microsoft-wide strategy, since Office 2007 doesn't just hide the File, Edit, View and other menus -- it removes them entirely from its three biggest applications. What, are they nuts?