Users or the 2007 Microsoft Office System and Windows Vista may have already come in contact with the two products preview capabilities. In Office 2007 the preview feature is more evident, but Microsoft has integrated the preview functionality in Windows Vista.

The technology is based on preview handlers and both Office 2007 and Windows Vista enable users to view and display the contents of documents, attachments, emails, messages, video and audio file, workbooks, presentations etc. The list does not stop here as the file formats for which Microsoft is delivering preview capabilities are extensive.

The preview capabilities even extend to Outlook 2007. Outlook 2007 enables the previewing of emails and attachments without executing the files. Clicking a message in folder's list view, will make Outlook produce a rendering of the contents in the preview pane rather than open the files.

Via this feature, users are able to select a range of documents and have Windows Vista render the contents. You are able to see this feature in action in the imaged included here.

In Windows Vista you must launch an Explorer window in folder view. In order to enable the preview pane, in the folder menu, under Organize, select Layout and then Preview Pane. Now you will be able to view and even explore details of your files. In Vista the preview handlers deliver support for a wide range of video, audio and image formats, Office documents, font files etc.