Network and Sharing Center

When you open up the Network and Sharing Center, the first thing that you'll notice is the lovely map at the top which shows you exactly what networks you're connected to, and how that connection works. So, in the picture below, I'm firstly connected to my Local Area Network (LAN), and then through that, am connected to the Internet.
A great feature is that if one of the lines on your map is 'broken' in some way (indicated by a red x), you can simply double-click on it, and Windows will troubleshoot the problem, and offer a range of solutions, all of which can be implemented with a single click of a button, very clever.

A computer connected to the internet via a LAN:


A network with a broken link:


From this Center, I can view the status of my primary connection (the LAN, in this case). Underneath this is 'Sharing and discovery', which provides a simple set of options allowing for the sharing of files/printers/media, and also contains the options for Network Discovery.

File sharing works pretty much the same as it did on XP, with the 'Public' folder replacing 'Shared documents' as a way for multiple users on the same computer to have a common folder to share documents. Sharing across a network works in much the same way, except that in the 'properties' window of a folder, you can specify *exactly* who that folder is shared with, rather than just having it set to shared, or not.

The Network Discovery feature is one that I'm not entirely sure about, but can easily be simply set to 'on' and then ignored. And, if you find a reason to turn it off or customise it, the options are all readily available for you to do so. The features affects whether or not you can see (and be seen by) other computers and devices on your network, and whether or not you can access shared devices and files on the network, and vice versa. Given that Vista now allows you to specify what sort of network (public, work, home) you're on, it may be useful to have this as 'on' or 'off' for a certain type of network - but mostly, whenever I connect to a network, it's for the purpose of using the network resources, so I can't see a situation where I'd turn this one off.

Workgroups

The Network tab handily replaces what XP used to call 'View workgroup computers', except that Workgroups are no longer any real issue, as Vista simply ignores them for the most part, and only the network your are connected to matters. The only reason that workgroups are left in is for backwards compatibility, so if you're on a network that contains PCs both on Vista and on XP, then you'll still have to make sure all the computers that you want to see one another are on the same network.

To change your workgroup on Vista, use the following path:
Start Menu > Control Panel > System and Maintenance > System.
Then under Computer Name, Domain, and Workgroup Settings, click Change settings. Once you're past UAC, then simply click the 'Change' button, and rename your workgroup. Easier than it sounds, I promise.

Another useful feature I've found on the Network tab is that your router will show up as a connected device on your network, allowing you to directly access it, as opposed to having to use a manager, or put its ip/name through a browser to get to it.

Networking with Vista

In Vista, connecting to a network, from the internet down to the humblest direct-connection two computer LAN has been made as simple as possible. The 'Network' button can be found on your start bar, or you can access the 'Network and Sharing Center' directly through your control panel, though it's only one click away from the Network tab opened up from the start bar. When I first logged on to Vista, I went looking for this setting straight away, so that I could get back online. However, before I'd even found it, I accidentally clicked on Internet Explorer, and found that the network had been found, connected to and that I was online. Brilliantly useful, and still very secure as 'Network discovery' was (unintuitively, given that a network was automatically 'discovered') turned off by default for the network I connected to.

See also:
Workgroups
Network and Sharing Center