Microsoft Windows XP automatically chooses how to display folders based on the types of files they contain. For example, Windows XP displays your My Pictures folder in either Filmstrip or Thumbnails view so that you can see the pictures without opening the files. However, Windows XP displays your My Documents folder in Tiles view so that you can see the names of the Word and Excel documents.
Windows XP lets you display the contents of folders in a variety of ways -- a detailed list of the files, as thumbnail images, etc. Each folder in the My Computer or My Documents folder can have its own view. That's useful for folders like My Pictures, because you can look at your digital photos in Thumbnails or Filmstrip view. But changing the view for every folder can be time-consuming.
If you prefer to have all your folder contents displayed in a particular way, you can save yourself some time by changing the view for all the folders on your computer at once.