Windows Operating System - 2

Windows Desktop

        Desktop just like a physical top of a desk, the Windows desktop is where you put the things you are working on or went to access. They are appearing on the monitor hence, the full appearance calls desktop. The desktop is the main screen in Windows (or any other operating system) where you can put icons that act as shortcuts to various programs.

• Icon

        An icon in Windows is a small picture or object that represents a file program, web page, or commands. Most of the time, the icon picture relates to the function of the item that it represents.

        For example, if the icon is attached to an e-mail program, it might be a picture of a letter. Icons are located on the desktop, in the start menu, and various other places.

• Shortcut

       A shortcut is a Windows icon that when clicked does something - starts a program, views a graphic, plays a sound, etc. Since they are only "paths" to the program, they can be deleted without deleting the actual program itself. On your desktop, you probably have several shortcuts.

• Recycle Bin

      When you delete a file, Windows XP will place the file into the recycle bin instead of deleting altogether; this allows you to restore the file in case you deleted it by mistake. For example say you deleted a file by accident you could double click on the recycle bin icon to see its contents, and then restore the file back to where you deleted it from by right clicking on it and then selecting restore from the menu that appears.

Keeping the Desktop tidy

      The more you use Windows XP the more your desktop may start to fill up with icons, either because you install more software or you create your own icons.

      Windows XP can automatically align and sort your desktop icons to keep the desktop tidy, to achieve this click the right mouse button anywhere on the desktop and a menu will appear, hover the mouse pointer over Arrange Icons By and a sub menu will appear, from here you can sort your desktop icons be Name, Size, Type, Last Modified date.

       Selecting the Auto Arrange option will automatically align your desktop icons every time you add one to the desktop.

       The Desktop Cleanup Wizard will remove any desktop shortcuts that have never been used to a new folder on your desktop called Unused Desktop Shortcuts.

 

Windows Operating System - 1 | Using the Mouse

Read more »

Windows Operating System - 1

Using the Mouse

A mouse is a hand - held device that controls the movement of a pointer on your screen. You use your mouse to perfome tasks on your computer.

As you move the mouse, a mouse pointer moves on your screen. When you position the pointer over an object, you can press (click pr double click) the mouse button to perform different action on the object. The pointer usually appears as an arrow, but it can change shape. The following sections explain the other actions you can perform with your mouse.

Mouse Functions

• Click - To select something on-screen., click the left button quickly and lightly - whatever you are pointing to when you click appears high lighted to show that it's selected.

• Double-Click - To activate an object on-screen, click twice in rapid succession. Click - Click will manipulate the object usually resulting in the opening of a specific program.

• Drag - To move or size an object on-screen, hold down the mouse button while you move the mouse across the mouse pad. Dragging moves the object to a new location. Dragging a border or frame changes the size of the object.

• Right-Click - Displays special menus. When you right-click, you see a menu of commands related to the icon or area of the screen that you are pointing to.

• Wheel Button - Some mice have a third button or wheel button. The Wheel Button allows you to scroll from screen to screen in a multiple screen document. It also allows you to move to a certain location in the document quickly by moving the mouse button, similar to dragging the navigation bar on a web page.

Windows Operating System - 2 | Windows Desktop

Read more »

Types of Operating Systems

           Operating system can be broadly classified into two categories based on the type of interface provided to the user.

Command Line Interface

         In these types of operating systems the user can enter commands through the keyboard and each command will perform a specific action. But this type of interface is very difficult for a beginner to use, because the commands have to be remembered.

          MS-DOS is such a Operating System. Dos stands for Disk Operating system. It was developed by Microsoft as an operating system in the 1980s. Windows 3x needed DOS to run, but the later versions of Windows do not.

Graphical User Interface

         These operating systems provide the user the ability to manipulate the computer in a more interactive way. These systems are more user-friendly and easier to use than command driven interface, because the commands need not be learnt.

E.g. Windows, MacOS, Linux

Windows 7

MacOS

Read more »

Operating System

         An Operating System or OS is a software program that enables the computer hardware to communicate and operate with the computer software. Without an Operating System, a computer would be useless.

Features Expected of an Operating System

• To Startup and Shutdown the computer. 

• To act as an interface between the user and the hardware.

• To perform house keeping tasks such as file handling, disk/ memory management.

• To be able to allow the user to configure the system. This includes changing the types of printers, adding new hardware (such as sound cards), etc.

Read more »

System Software

Software

          Software refers to instructions which are used by  the computer to perform various tasks. The word programme is synonymous with software. Software is created with programming languages and related utilities. Software is generally classified into two types: System Software and Application Software.

System Software

          System software is responsible for controlling, integrating and managing the individual hardware components of a computer system so that other software and the users of the system see it as a functional unit without having to be concerned with the low-level details of the computer hardware.
System software can be further classified as:

• Operating Systems.
• Utilities and service programs.

Operating Systems (OS)

              The Operating System manages the resources and the basic operations of the computer. Without an operating system the computer would not work. The operating system (or a part of it) is loaded into the main memory when the computer is switched on and handles many tasks, which we are unaware of when we use the computer. A part of the operating system remains in main memory until the computer is turned off.

             There are several operating systems used with personal computers such as Windows 98, Windows XP, Linux and Mac OS. Different systems are designed for different hardware platforms or for different functions.

            Operating systems may provide different types of user interfaces such as Command Line Interface and Graphical User Interface (GUI). In the command line interface, users communicate with the operating system by typing commands using the keyboard. One of the main disadvantages of the command line interface is that the user has to memorize the commands exactly.

               In the graphical user interface, a user invokes a command by means of graphical objects shown on the screen and the system translates the user action to the operating system commands and executes them on behalf of the user. The graphical user interface was first developed for Apple Macintosh Computers.

              The general-purpose operating systems are typically supplied on CD-ROMs and must be installed before using the computer. Some computers such as hand held computers come with pre-installed operating systems on the computers' ROM. Such operating systems provide only limited capabilities and are virtually impossible to be upgraded.


Utilities and Service Programs 

             Another category of software is utility software, which is a collection of useful programs that enhance the capabilities of the operating system. These software programmes are designed to perform various tasks. Some examples of utility software are Norton Utilities and Download Accelerator.

Read more »