8 timesaving tips for Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office release : 2

View and copy document content without opening the document

Need
to check some figures on one of several sheets in a Microsoft Office
Excel 2007 workbook or copy some content from a Microsoft Office Word
2007 document? Don't spend extra time opening the program and then
opening your document. Windows Explorer in Windows Vista offers a new
Preview pane that enables you to view all parts of your document, and
even copy content, directly from Windows Explorer. Notice, for example,
the data selected in the preview of a sample Excel workbook in the
image that follows.

To open the Preview pane, on the Start menu click Computer to open a Windows Explorer window, or press Windows+E. On the Windows Explorer toolbar, click Organize, point to Layout, and then click Preview. Note that once the Preview pane is open, you can drag the left edge of the pane to reduce or increase its size.

Learn more about the available options for viewing files and folders with Windows Vista.