Windows Contacts is a new application distributed with Windows Vista, that replaces the old Windows Address Book. This application has all the features of its predecessor and some new ones such as the ability to add pictures to your contacts, a new XML based file format for storing contacts and better extensibility for integration with other applications.

As you can imagine, Windows Contacts integrates with Windows Mail. When you create an e‑mail message in Windows Mail, you select the recipient from your Contacts folder. Even if you do not use Windows Mail as your default e‑mail client, you can still use Windows Contacts to store all the contact information about the people you know.

The Windows Contacts shortcut can be found directly in Start Menu -> All Programs. When the application is launched, it loads all the existing contacts.

Windows Contacts offers a pretty limited functionality. All you can do is create or delete contacts, create contact groups and import or export your contact list.

To create a new contact, press the New Contact button. A new window will appear where you will be able to enter the information you have about your new contact. You can enter plenty of information which is split into several categories: name and e-mail, home, work, family, notes and IDs.

You can also add a picture of your contact. To do that, click on the small arrow that can be found below the picture icon from the right side of the window. A small menu containing two options will appear. From this menu, select the Change picture option and then browse to the location of the contact's picture.

After you have finished completing all the information press the OK button and the new contact will be added to your contact list.

NOTE: If you cannot find the New Contact button, then right click and select New -> Contact.

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