1. Vista will not store your Office XP passwords.

In particular, Outlook 2002 (XP) does not appear to be able to retain any mail account passwords. And, as of yet, I haven't found a work-around other than simply typing your password for every e-mail account every time you start Outlook. However, checking the "Save password..." option will cause Outlook to retain and reuse the password for the duration of the Outlook session.

As I understand it, without having any inside knowledge, Microsoft XP applications that store passwords hands them off to Windows to be stored, or at least stores them in a common place, designated and secured by Windows. That way, whenever you log off of a password protected Windows user account, the passwords are encrypted to keep them safe from prying eyes. However, with the advent of Windows Vista, this password-storage-relationship between application and operating system (Windows) has somehow been broken.

Perhaps the passwords are stored in a different location. Perhaps the name of the API that handles it has changed. I don't know any specifics. But, if anyone reading this comes up with or finds a solution, PLEASE mail it to me.

2. The Windows Help Viewer is not included with Windows Vista.

Notice I said "not included". Ah, yes. There is a work-around for this one. You can download the Help Viewer directly from Microsoft. Here's the link:

Microsoft 32-Bit Windows Help Viewer (.msu)

Note: If you have the special 64-bit version of Windows Vista (most do not), you will need a different version of the Help Viewer. I'm not even sure why I mention this. Those that can afford the systems that come with this version of Windows probably won't be reading this article.

Microsoft's official reason for dropping the Help Viewer is, roughly, "it's too old and hasn't changed much since Windows 3.1 and not at all since Windows 95." Meanwhile, I'm thinking, "It's been working far too flawlessly and Microsoft's can't make any money off of it that way."