Viewing More Properties

Explorer's Details view is the preferred choice for power users because it displays a great deal of information in a relatively compact format. (The new Content view also provides lots of information, but each object takes up quite a bit of space, and the object properties that you see aren't customizable.) Details view also gives you a great deal of flexibility. For example, here are some techniques to you can use when working with the Details view:

• You can change the order of the property columns by dragging the column headings to the left or right.
• You can sort on a column by clicking the column heading.
• You can adjust the width of a column by pointing the mouse at the right edge of the column's heading (the pointer changes to a two-headed arrow) and dragging the pointer left or right.
• You can adjust the width of a column so that it's as wide as its widest data by double-clicking the right-edge of the column's heading.

TIP To adjust all the columns so that they're exactly as wide as their widest data, right-click any column header and then click Size All Columns to Fit.

In addition, the Details view is informative because it shows you not only the name of each file, but also other properties, depending on the folder:

Documents-Name, Date Modified, Type, and Size
Pictures-Name, Date Taken, Tags, Size, and Rating
Videos-Name, Date Taken, Type, Size, and Length
Music-Track Name, Track Number, Track Title, Contributing Artists, and Album Title
Contacts-Name, E-mail Address, Business Phone, and Home Phone

These are all useful, to be sure, but Explorer can display many more file properties. In fact, there are nearly 300 properties in all, and they include useful information such as the dimensions of a picture file, the bit rate of a music file, and the frame rate of a video file. To see these and other properties, you have two choices:

• To see the most common properties for the current folder type, right-click any column header and then click the property you want to add.
• To see the complete property list, right-click any column header and then click More. The Choose Details dialog box that appears enables you to activate the check boxes for the properties you want to see, as well as rearrange the column order.