Vista - audio mixer problem

Hello, microsoft has been boasting about it's new features. Makes sense. One
feature is the new audio mixer. Here's my problem and question: in previous
versions of windows, such as xp or 98, I could double click on the speaker
in the task bar, go to options>properties and then select recording devices
or playback. With recording devices set, I am able to pick what I want to
record, so for my computer I have four options: Line In, Wave Out Mix, CD
Audio, and Mic Balance. In vista, i can't do this which is strange
considering microsoft has released articles boasting the new audio mixer. On
top of this, with Playback selected rather than Recording Devices, I have the
option to increase or decrease and mute or un-mute the recording device. I
have spent quite some time searching vista (including control panel) and the
internet and have not found this simple, fundamental feature in vista.
Please, I would appreciate an answer informing me on how to go about
accomplishing these tasks that were so easy to accomplish in previous
versions.