Thank you for purchasing, or at least, considering purchasing one of the easiest to understand computer books available today! And not to mention, welcome to the world of computers! Navigating Windows 9x/2000 was written to cover the basics of the Windows operating system and was specifically designed for new computer users who have no knowledge of computers. This simple and well-illustrated book will assist you from learning the basics to managing files and folders within the Windows operating system.
Once you have studied and practiced the illustrations in this book, you will have the fundamental skills to operate your computer, manage your files, open useful application programs, create shortcuts, and use the desktop.
The beginning of this book introduces the user to the Windows operating system. By learning the history of Windows and basic computer hardware the user will better understand how to make Windows work. The following excerpt is taken from the beginning pages of the book. You can use a computer to do many types of home and office tasks but it would be useless without a special program of instructions installed to control it. The software that controls the computer is called an Operating System. The operating system usually comes pre-installed with the computer and it allows you to operate it and the software you want to use. Microsoft Windows is now the most widely used operating system in the world!
Basically, Windows is the operating system that runs on and controls the computer. But, it also lets you run other software known as applications or programs. Each program includes its own instructions and information for Windows. The program works in conjunction with Windows to operate the computer. The hard drive is where the Windows operating system is stored.
Today, Windows is the name of the operating system used on most personal computers. The Apple Computer Company first used the actual term "window" in the 80's. Apple used an operating system in which programs are run within a window, yet programmers had developed the "window" well before Apple introduced this concept. The concept of the window was simple. Each operation on the computer works within its own window and allows you to switch back and forth between them at any time. You may have a window open showing you what is in the My Computer folder and also a window in which you are running the paint program. In short, a window is the rectangular box that will appear on the screen when you double click on an icon or start a program. The menus and three buttons across the top provide control. In some windows you will see Scroll bars on the side and bottom to allow you to see everything that is inside the window.
When operating windows and its applications, you may need to occasionally save information. When saving a file, you will have many choices on the location that you wish the file stored. On most computer systems the Hard Drive is associated with the drive letter C, its also is the most common place to save files. But, keep in mind that some computers are equipped with additional hard drives, CD-ROMs and removable Zip disks.
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