In Vista the names and locations of a number of common system folders have been changed . For example, the ubiquitous word "My' that began the name of so many system folders in Windows XP has been dropped. Also certain functions are now different and new ones have been added. On this page is a tabulation of some of these changes.
| Windows XP | Windows Vista |
|---|---|
| My Documents | Documents |
| My Recent Documents | Recent Items |
| My Computer | Computer |
| My Pictures | Pictures |
| My Music | Music |
| Run line on Start menu | No longer available on Start menu by default. See this link to see how to restore it. |
| My Network Places | Network |
| Printers and Faxes | Removed from Start menu. Printers configured in Control Panel. Fax not available in Vista Home editions. |
| \Documents and Settings\ | This system folder has been removed. Many functions and locations formerly in this folder are now in the folder called "Users". \Users\ contains subfolders named after each account or user name. |
| Explorer menu bar | Menus like "File" and "Edit" are no longer visible in folder windows. See this link to see how to restore them. |
| Some Vista features not present in XP | \ProgramData\ is a new system folder related to security measures in Vista |
| The Start menu contains a link to the folder \Users\{user name}\ for whoever is logged on. | |
| \Users\{user name}\Contacts\ is a folder that can be used by email and other programs. Replaces the old address book. | |
| \Users\{user name}\Downloads\ is a folder for each user account that is the default download location for Internet Explorer. | |
| \Users\{user name}\Saved Games\ is where games that are saved are kept. | |
| \Users\{user name}\Searches\ is the folder where saved searches are kept. | |
| \Users\Public\ is a folder for storing shared files. Contains various subfolders. |
In addition to the changes given in the table, a variety of differences between Windows XP and Windows Vista are outlined in the page on Vista environment variables. Also, other familiar folders have been moved and must be accessed dfferently because of security changes. Examples are the Cookies and SendTo folders. These and a number of other system folders have to be accessed with the Shell command, which is discussed at commandwindows.com.