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The (Few) Ways Vista Makes Office Work Better: Page 2 of 2

-- Auxilary displays: A new feature in Vista allows laptop-makers to build computers with small screens on the outside of the computer, similar to how closed clamshell cellphones might have screens that display the time or a photo when closed. For example, Capossela says, Toshiba has a new tablet PC out for businesses with a small screen that notifies users of new Outlook messages even if the computer isn't open.

-- Gadgets: The new Windows Sidebar in Vista shows little visual applets like a scratchpad for notes or a clock called gadgets. The gadgets that come with Vista don't leverage Office, but developers are already creating gadgets that do. One available for download on a Microsoft-hosted repository online uses Outlook to notify people of the number of upcoming appointments.