im wondering the same thing.
i'm talking about folders w/ ICON view (first one).
In my global properties, i have a background picture set, and my icon size set.
now in my window properties, i have 'Use Global view preferences' checkmarked.
with this setting, that folder and the subfolders keep the 'global view', but when i open a different folder, the settings dont stick, and i'll have to checkmark 'use global view pref' to get the correct setting.
anyway to do it once, and have it stick for every folder on my computer?