The Options dialog allows you to change defaults of the property dialogs.

Switching between different size property pages will not take effect until the property pages are closed and reopened.  Some IDE's (Visual Studio 6.0) must be closed and restarted before the changes take effect.

Checking for available updates requires an Internet connection.  Certain systems settings and site firewalls may prevent automatic update checking.  In that case, use the Updates property page instead to check for available updates.