It seems I'm always forgetting how to show hidden files in the solution explorer of vs2008. I know it's someplace in one of the menu's but I can't seem to find it. For now, the way I turn on and off this feature is by clicking the button right above the Solution explorer as shown below. For everyone's (including mine) information, below are the two views of solution explorer.
Notice that in the left picture, you can see the bin directory and in the right one you can not. The only weird thing is that the tooltip always says "Show All Files", whether you are in the shown mode or hidden mode. Seems to me, when the the files are showing it should say "Hide All Files".
That's it for now. Happy New Year! (one day early)