This example is illustrative of the search functionality in Windows Vista. The slideshow Sidebar gadget in Vista can be redirected to dynamic search folders. It takes just five steps to get the slideshow gadget to cycle through the images in a Search Folder.

First off create a folder, just like an actual recipe isn't it? Then perform a search of the images stored on your machine. When the search is complete, save the results to the newly created folder. Now go back to the slideshow gadget, point it to the folder and check the "Include subfolders" option. I've told you it was simple.

And now a short explanation. This functionality comes in handy when you want the Vista Sidebar Slideshow Gadget to use images defined via a search term rather than those in a specific location. In this case, the Vista Sidebar Slideshow Gadget will not use an actual location for its picture source but a virtual folder instead. Saving the search in Windows Vista into a location will create just such a virtual folder.