Windows Mobility Center
This feature is included in the following editions of Windows Vista:
Windows Mobility Center, available in premium editions of Windows Vista, puts the most frequently used mobile PC settings in one location.
Power management
Windows Vista offers simple and reliable power management.
Power plans
Power settings in Windows Vista are based on power plans. A power plan is a collection of hardware and system settings that manages how your computer balances the tradeoff between power conservation and system performance. Windows Vista includes three Windows default power plans:
Default power plans help you balance performance and battery life tradeoffs.
Balanced. This plan balances energy consumption and system performance by adapting your mobile PC's processor speed to your activity. For example, the processor speeds up when you play a multimedia game and slows down when you read a document.
Power saver. This plan saves power on your mobile PC by reducing system performance. You use it primarily when you want to maximize battery life.
High performance. This plan maximizes system performance on your mobile PC. You sacrifice some battery life to improve overall performance.
The Balanced plan meets most people's needs. You can easily change one or more settings in a Windows default power plan, such as the amount of time that elapses before your mobile PC goes to sleep or goes into hibernation. And if you don't like the changes that you made to a plan, you can restore the plan's default settings.
You can also switch between power plans by using the improved battery meter on the task bar or on the battery tile in Windows Mobility Center. You can see all of the power plans on your mobile PC in Control Panel and change settings there as well. The plan settings adjust when you are running on battery power, so you don't need to switch plans just because you pulled the plug.
The sleep power state
Windows Vista promotes the use of the sleep state so you can use your computer whenever you want, without having to wait for the computer to start. To put your mobile PC to sleep, click the Power button on the Start menu. To wake your mobile PC, press the hardware power button.
Windows Vista saves your work and the state of your programs to memory and then puts the computer to sleep. If your battery is running low, Windows Vista saves your work to your hard disk and then turns off your mobile PC. When your mobile PC wakes, Windows Vista restores your previous work session within seconds. You don't need to restart your mobile PC, log on, and then open the files that you were working on.
The battery meter
The battery icon in the notification area on the task bar provides information at a glance. It indicates when your battery is low, critical, or missing from your battery bay. If you hover your mouse over the battery meter, you can see the amount of time and percentage of battery power remaining, and also which power plan is active. If you click the battery meter, you see an expanded view, and you can immediately change the power plan. If you have more than one battery on your mobile PC, the expanded view provides details about each battery. Timely notifications tell you when your battery life reaches low and critical levels.
The battery meter displays your power situation.
Presentation settings
Presentation settings are options on your mobile PC that you can apply when you're giving a presentation.
When presentation settings are turned on, your mobile PC stays awake and system notifications are turned off so they don't interrupt your presentation. You can also choose to turn off the screen saver, adjust the speaker volume, and change your desktop background image to another image or, in the case of Windows Meeting Space presentations or presentations given over a network, to a solid color to improve performance. Your settings are automatically saved and applied every time you give a presentation, unless you manually turn them off.
Presentation settings automatically turn off when you disconnect your mobile PC from a network projector or additional monitor, and also when you shut down or log off from your mobile PC.
Multiple monitors
Windows Vista automatically detects an external display and shows your mobile PC's desktop. You can then choose how you want your desktop to appear and customize the display settings, such as resolution and color depth. You can also specify that a particular display is used for a presentation, which turns on the correct presentation settings automatically.
When you connect your mobile PC to an external display, Windows Vista opens the New Display Detected dialog box, where you can select one of the following display options:
Mirrored. Duplicates, or "mirrors," your desktop on each display. Mirrored is the default display option.
Extended. Extends your desktop across all of the displays that you connect to, so that you can move program windows back and forth between the displays.
External display only. Shows your desktop on all monitors that you connect to, but not on your mobile PC display.
Network projection
By using the Connect to a Network Projector wizard, you can connect to any Windows-compatible network projector over a wireless or wired network. A network projector is a shared resource that you can access from your mobile PC—much like a printer on a network.
The Connect to a Network Projector wizard offers two ways to connect to a projector:
Choose a projector. When you search for a projector, a list of available projectors appears on your local network.
Enter the network address of a specific projector. If you can't find the projector on your network or if you want to project to a remote projector, you can connect manually. Examples of a manual connection network address are http://server/projectors/projector_1 or \\server\projectors\projector_1.
When the wizard displays the available projectors, an icon appears next to each projector to indicate whether the projector is secured or unsecured.
Whether you choose a projector by selecting it from the list of available projectors or by entering its address, you must enter a password if the projector is secured.
When you use the wizard, your desktop will be mirrored; that is, the same image appears on your mobile PC display and on the projector. Presentation settings are automatically optimized for network performance.
Windows HotStart
Windows HotStart enables you to click a button and immediately start a program regardless of whether your mobile PC is on, sleeping, in hibernation, or off. Click the HotStart button to start a media program, such as Windows Media Player, to play a CD or watch a DVD that you've recorded, or browse and play audio and video files from your hard disk. At any point, you can exit or pause the media program to return to your desktop without having to restart your mobile PC.
Although HotStart is ideal for playing media that you've recorded or stored on your hard disk, you can also configure the button to start other programs, such as an e-mail program or web browser. HotStart also works on desktop computers.