As users of Windows operating systems for years, we exactly know how Windows Explorer works. Windows Explorer is one of the most used applications built-in to Windows from Windows 95 operating system. Although there are minor changes between Windows Explorer offered in versions of Windows, the basics remains the same.

Have you ever felt that Windows Explorer is not enough for you? Especially after using file managers present in Apple Macintosh or Linux? Yes, there are people who feel Windows Explorer can be more that what it is right now and they have offered a good alternative that can be used with Windows Explorer.

AccelMan File Manager is one of the revolutionary software that has taken steps to make users experience more effective and productive. AccelMan was first issued to the market as a shareware application where you have to pay some money in order to get all the features activated but now it is offered free. Let’s have a look at the features offered by AccelMan.
A built-in image viewer is one of most important tools offered by this software. This comes handy if you work with a lot of graphics (ex: a web designer) and needs to preview images frequently. AccelMan offers tabbed view for viewing different folders in the same panel so the hassle of opening numbers of separate windows is answered. This also supports command line integration and also includes a built-in media player. Text editor is one of the most powerful tools when it comes to productivity and it offers the file compression and decompression ability which supports fifteen compressions formats.

If you are a Windows Vista user, you may be familiar with as-you-type search. Unlike previous Windows versions, Vista does not take minutes to search for your document. If you missed that feature in Windows XP, you can just have it with AccelMan. It also displays Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat document in the display panel itself.

Vista SP1 as it is commonly known has finally gone gold. Despite Microsoft’s elusive and evasive predictions about when SP1 would be released, it has made its way out of the factory doors. Speculatively, it is rumored that SP1 had compatibility issues that were discovered as beta testing progressed. Nevertheless, it is now there in the market as a full fledged solution, standing stronger than ever!

Unlike windows XP SP2 which included several brand new features, Vista SP1 is a regular old-model service pack. This means that it has no new features, no user interface changes or anything coming closer to that sort of gimmick. So you may ask “what does it have, anyway?” It’s mostly concerned about improving security and enhancing performance with most other changes under the hood.

The most important feature in this release would be Microsoft’s attempt to block a couple of methods used by hackers to pirate Vista and get around its activation mechanism. The trick was to put all pirate copies of vista that were upgraded to SP1 on a non-activated 15 day trial status. Ironically, benchmarking SP1 release, a patch was released by a hacker to combat the new anti-pirate policy even before SP1’s final official release.

Another interesting breakthrough for Microsoft is changing its policy on how non-activated Vista copies are handled. Prior to SP1, any copy of vista which was not activated beyond 15 day or 30 day trial period was put in to reduced functionality mode where the user cannot do anything much on the machine except to activate or purchase Vista. In SP1, this process has been abolished in replacement of more lenient measures. So now, the consequence for any user who does not activate their Vista would be to have a black and white background on the desktop and an hourly prompt which warns that they are using an illegal copy of Vista.