MS Windows

Lab 1: Microsoft Windows.

I'm a Mac user since 2009 and up until now I rarely use Windows. So I guess it's gonna take some time to get used to it again...

Anyway, today we learned the very basic of Microsoft Windows.

Microsoft Windows is an object-oriented operating system (OS). It uses a graphical usier interface (GUI) and all programs contain in this OS have common user interface and features (window, dialog box, icon, mouse pointer, and menu)

There are 2 ways of starting Windows. When the computer is OFF, we push the Power button for it to start. This is what we called as Cold Boot. When the computer is on (as a result of someone who logged off his account), we just restart the Windows by selecting Restart button. This what we called as Warm Boot.

On the Windows Screen, we have the Desktop; the area that takes up the entire background of the screen. The Objects i.e. wallpaper, mouse pointer, desktop icons, taskbar, are the items on the desktop. They have the capabilities i.e. functions and properties as in their settings and attributes.

First let's go to the desktop icons. These icons are the pictures appear on the desktop and they are representing a program or a file. Whenever you make a new account in your computer, icons like My Computer, Recycle Bin, My Network Places, and Internet Explorer, are the ones on the desktop by default.

Using the mouse:

Basically, on top of the mouse there are left button and right button.

The mouse operations are:

Mouse operation	Description
Point	Place pointer on desired object
Click	Press and release left button
Double-click	Quickly press and release left button twice
Right-click	Similar to click except using the right button
Drag	Hold down left button, slide mouse to a new location then release button
Right-drag	Similar to drag except using the right button
Click twice	Click at object. Then click again

The mouse pointer:

Mouse Pointer	Picture	Meaning
Block Arrow		Point
I-beam		Insert text
Hour glass		Busy/wait
Do not sign		Area is not available
Block arrow with ?		Display help on selected item
Horizontal arrow		Horizontal resize
Vertical arrow		Vertical resize
Diagonal arrow		Diagonal resize
Cross arrow		Move
Pointing hand		Link select

Next is how to use the keyboard:

• Esc - to cancel current job
• Shift - its function differs with different programs and at different situations. It may also be used with other key(s) or with the mouse It is also used to type uppercase letters and the top character on a key that has two characters on it, e.g. using Shift+End means you hold down the Shift key, press End key and then release the End key before releasing the Shift key.
• Ctrl (Control) - similar to Shift key. E.g. Ctrl+C is the copy command.
• Alt (Alternate) - similar to Shift key. E.g. Alt+F4 to close the active window
• ↑ ↓ ← → (Arrow keys) - usually used to move the cursor position while typing text.
• Backspace and Delete keys -to delete characters.
• Enter - usually used to end any typing, to choose a command button. (Usually the OK button).
• Tab - to select or go to the next text box or the next button before pressing Enter key.
• Caps Lock - to type uppercases without using the Shift key. It is a toggle Key.
• Num Lock - to type digits using the numeric keypad (on the right side of keyboard); it is a toggle key.
• Start - to get Start menu

Buttons:

• Command Button performs commands. The button usually has a name or picture on it. E.g. OK, Cancel, Save
• Option/Radio Button - An option preceded by a circle. The selected option displays a black dot. Only one option can be selected from a list of option buttons.
• Spinner button are two buttons at the right end of a text box (the up and down arrows).
• Check Box - An option preceded by square. The selected option is displayed with a check mark. None or more than a choice can be selected.

Menus:

There are four types of menu:

• Pull-down or drop-down menu e.g. When you click File on top of a Window.
• Pulp-up menu e.g. When you click the Start menu.
• Shortcut menu e.g. Right click on mouse on your desktop
• Cascading menu e.g. When you select View in My Computer window, select the Toolbars and there will be another menu cascaded. Indicated by right arrow at the end of a menu's name.

Features of the menus:

• Ellipses (...) - A dialog box will be displayed if we clicked the option.
• Dimmed Command - The command can't be selected until certain other conditions are met.
• Shortcut key - A key or combination of keys that can be used to execute the command without using the mouse e.g. Copy (Ctrl + C), Paste (Ctrl + V)
• Check mark - Indicates a toggle type of command. Selecting it turn the feature on or off. A check mark indicates the feature is on. More than one feature can be turned on.
• Bullet - Indicates only one of the command in the group can be selected. The bullet indicates the currently selected feature.

Dialog Box is how Windows programs provide and request information from the user in order to complete a task. It includes folder-like tabs across the top of the dialog box that can open to display related options. E.g. when we want to save our document as in Microsoft Word program.

Windows is a rectangular box or section on the screen dedicated to a specific activity or application. Icons window display icons in the window area while application window is when we're using an application software.

Example for opening a Window from an Icon:

On the desktop, there's My Computer icon, right? We can open it by double-click the icon or by right click the icon, a short cut menu will appear and choose Open.

Sizing a Window:

By buttons: At the top of a window, there are 3 types of button.

• Maximize button - to enlarge the window to its maximum size
• Minimize button - to reduce the window to a button on the taskbar.
• Restore button - to return the window to its size before it was maximized.

Custom sizing: when we want to resize the window according to our desired size. Useful while we're multi-tasking. So, how do we do it?

1. Place pointer on the portion of the border (left, right, top, bottom, or corner) that we want to resize or we can position the pointer until it changes shape to either a horizontal, vertical or diagonal resize shape as I showed in mouse pointer shape.
2. Drag the border in the direction we desire.
3. When the border is at the desired location, release the mouse button.
4. The window now is resized.

Moving a window:

1. Place the pointer at the title bar.
2. Drag the window to its new location.
3. Release the mouse button.

Multiple Windows: Moving Application between Windows of Different Application or Programs

Moving to a new window means we are making another window as the active window. There are three ways to select the active window from all the windows currently opened:

1. Click any part of the window usually at the title bar or at the window area.
2. Click the window's taskbar button.
3. Press Alt+ Tab. A dialog box appears, displaying the icons and application names of all open windows. Each time you press Tab, a new application is selected and a border appears around the selected icon. Release the Alt key when you want the icon selected to be active.

Closing a Window:

When we have finished working with a window, we should close it, right? The 4 ways to close the active window are:

1. Click the Close button at the title bar
2. Using the menu bar, click File menu then choose Close
3. Click the Control-menu icon then choose Close.
4. Press Alt+F4.

Quitting MS Windows: 3 ways:

1. Get the Start menu by clicking the button.
2. Choose Shut Down. The Shut Down Windows dialog box will be displayed.
3. Choose one of the options in the Shut Down dialog box. The options are:

• Log off - By logging off, we can let someone else to log on at the PC by using a different user name
• Shut down - Choose this option if we want to turn off the PC. It saves any settings we have changed in Windows and prepares the computer to be turned off. It closes any open programs before shutting down.
• Restart - This option saves any settings changed and restarts the computer by turning off and on itself.
• Stand by - This puts the PC in a stand by mode to save electricity while not in use

Alright, that's all for today's lab. See you next class!