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Note: Completing the Mouse Tutorial and Mousercise exercise which are available on the Class Resources webpage constitutes the first part of this lesson.
ABOUT PROGRAMS AND OPERATING SYSTEMS Any time a task is performed on a computer, it is done through a program. For the user, the program is the application – the tool – for accomplishing a task. For the computer, it is a set of instructions on knowing how to perform this task. Examples of programs include Internet Explorer and Microsoft Word. The most important program overall is the operating system , which manages all of the computer’s resources and decides how to treat input from the user.
There are several different operating systems in circulation, such as Mac O/S and Linux. However, far and away, the most commonly-used operating system is Microsoft Windows. (Note that Microsoft is just the name of the company that makes Windows, and that there are several versions of Windows. In 2012 all the computers in the lab were updated to the version of Windows called Windows 7. If you have some experience with the older versions of Windows you will notice that things look a bit different on a computer running Windows 7.
THE WINDOWS 7 ENVIRONMENT
The Desktop
The first thing you see when you log on to the computer is the DESKTOP. The Desktop is the display area you see when Windows opens. The following items are the most common items that can be found on the desktop:
Icons
Taskbar
Mouse pointer
Shortcuts to Storage drives
Notification
Start Button^ tray
Show Desktop/Peek button
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Parts of the Windows 7 Desktop Icon: A picture representing a program or file or places to store files. Mouse Pointer or Cursor: The indicator on the screen that you use to select and move objects. It moves as you move the mouse and changes appearance depending on what program you are using and what tool you have selected. Taskbar: The gray/black bar at the bottom of the computer screen. The taskbar buttons in Windows 7 are significantly bigger and will stack behind each other. The taskbar is always visible and is used to switch between open programs. Important sections of the taskbar include: Notification Tray – the bottom right corner next to the time and date. It contains miniature icons for easy access to system functions such as antivirus settings, printer, modem, sound volume, battery status, and more. Point to the Speaker icon to see a Screen Tip. A screen tip displays information about an icon or button. Show Desktop/Peek Button – farthest over on the right. When programs are running, hovering over the button will allow you to view your Desktop. This “peek” functionality is new with Windows 7 and is part of the Aero user interface which was introduced on Windows Vista and has been enhanced for Windows 7. Clicking the button will minimize all open windows. Start Button – This button is used to launch a menu to access programs and other controls in the operating system.
The Start Menu (Fig. 1) appears when you click the Start button on the left side of Taskbar. The first view of the start menu will show programs that you have recently used on your computer. To see all of your programs , hover over the words “Programs”. All of the programs available on your computer will display in a flyaway menu to the left. (Fig.2) Some of them will be contained within folders. When you hover over a folder, the programs contained within will display. Hover over the Microsoft Office folder. Notice that now all the MS office programs are listed. (Fig.3) To open a program, point to it and click once. To exit out of the menu, point to a clear area off the menu and click once.
Start button Notification Tray Show desktop/ Peek button
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Looking at a Program Window
Use the Start Menu to open Microsoft Office Word 2010. Hover over “ All Programs ” , hover over the Microsoft Office folder and click the program name to open it. Examine the picture of the Word program window below to locate some common window elements.
Parts of the Window
File Tab: left click to display a menu of common actions and a Backstage view of the current document. (This replaces the Office Button of Word 07).
Title Bar Command Tabs (^) Minimize button
Restore/Down button Close button
Scroll Bar
Scroll Up Arrow
Scroll Down Arrow
File Tab
Ribbon
Save
Quick Access Toolbar
Window Controls
Status Bar
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Quick Access Toolbar: this area provides quick access to common commands. Clicking on the icon shaped like a floppy disk will save the current file. Title Bar: Top most bar with title of file and name of program Ribbon: provides a user interface consisting of a large toolbar filled with graphical representations of control elements which are grouped by different functionality Command Tabs: Clicking on a tab will change the content on the ‘ribbon’ area. Scroll Bar: A vertical bar on the side of a window and occasionally a horizontal bar at the bottom of the window used to move around in a document. You can use the scroll arrows to view hidden parts of a document. If the entire document is displayed in the window, there will not be a scroll bar. The size of the scroll button indicates how much of the document is visible. Status Bar: This bar is just above the taskbar. This is where you can view the status of the file you have open or the progress of some process such as saving or loading a webpage. Window Controls: This is a group of three buttons to ‘Minimize’ the current window, toggle the size of the window or ‘Close’ the window. The right-most button in the upper-right corner, with the X on it, is used to exit or “close” a program or window.
Click on the X button to close Word.
A Closer Look at the Taskbar
At the very bottom of the screen is the taskbar. The two ends of the taskbar contain the Start button and the show desktop/peek button. The taskbar was introduced as the most important part of the screen, even though most of it is blank!
The taskbar lists all the tasks the computer is performing, and this is why it is important. Any time a new window opens, (with a program running in it) it will be represented on the taskbar. For now, simply note that most of the bar is empty, but keep watching how the taskbar changes as the lesson continues.
Open Word (by either the icon on the desktop or the Start menu) and notice that there is a now a button representing that program on the taskbar.
Click the CLOSE button on the Word window and look at the taskbar again. The Word taskbar button is gone.
TASK BAR with a Word task running
Start button Notification Tray Show desktop/ Peek button
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The Restore Down button is one key to being able to change the size of a window so that you can see two or more different tasks at the same time. The computer can perform many different things at the same time, as you will soon see, but one task window would be blocking out all the others if all of them used the entire screen.
Dragging and Resizing Program Windows
What if we wanted to use a different part of the screen than the Restore Down Button gives us?
Click your Restore Down button once more to get to a de-maximized state. Point your mouse to the center of the Title bar, hold your left mouse button in, and move your mouse around just a little bit. Try not to go too close to the edge of the desktop or something unexpected will happen, which we will look at next. Moving the window around like this is called Dragging.
While in a restored down state you can change the size and shape of a window.
Point the very tip of your mouse pointer to the outer frame of the window, until the pointer changes into a two - way arrow. This two-way arrow is called a resizing tool.
This cursor shape is your cue that the edge of the window can be moved to the left or right. Hold your mouse button down and move the mouse slightly, and the left edge of the window will follow your mouse until you let go of the button. (If you grab a corner, you will be moving two sides at once.)
Resizing can also be done at the top and bottom of the window. When you resize, be careful not to touch the window control buttons and don’t go too close to the edges of the desktop.
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Resize your window so that it looks like the one below and is located in the center of the desktop as pictured.
After experimenting with your resizing , Click the Maximize button. Your window is restored to its full screen mode. Click the Restore Down button again. Note that the window reverts to the smaller shape and size that you gave it. As you toggle back and forth, keep your bearings by noticing the symbol on your middle window control button changing. Again, the two boxes means the window is maximized, the single box means that it is de-maximized.
Another way to return the window to its full screen mode is to double click on the title bar. That accomplishes the same thing as clicking the maximize button. Try double- clicking the title ba r to return to the full screen mode.
Conversely, double-clicking on the title bar while in full screen mode will accomplish the same thing as clicking the restore down button. Try double-clicking on the title bar. Choose whichever method you prefer (clicking the maximize button or double-clicking the title bar) to return the window to full screen mode.
Dragging and Snapping
Earlier we tried dragging our de-maximized Word window around just a little bit. We are going to explore that functionality a little more now. When we were dragging our window before, we had first used the restore down button to make the window smaller. After de- maximizing the window we were then able to drag it around. In previous versions of Windows it was only possible to drag a window if it was in a de-maximized state. The same is true in Windows 7, but in Windows 7, new functionality makes it possible to de- maximize a window simply by dragging the title bar.
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drag your hand straight up towards the top of the desktop. Don’t let go until you see Peek curtain. (See illustration below)
Note that after you see the peek curtain and let go of the mouse button, your window is maximized.
This functionality, to resize a window by dragging it to certain places on the desktop, is a new feature in Windows 7 called Snap.
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Let’s try some more Dragging and Snapping!
Click and hold on the title bar of your Word window and begin to drag it to the left. Note how the window reverts to its previous de-maximized size and shape. Keep dragging to the left until you see the Peek curtain appear across half of the screen.
Then you can let go. The window Snaps into place, filling the left side of the screen!
Try dragging the window to the right side of the desktop until it snaps into place filling the right side of the screen. Note how the window first reverts to the custom size we gave it, and then it snaps into a new size.
Look for the library website icon on the desktop and double-click on it. The library website is set to open in our default browser, Internet Explorer.
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Switching Between Windows Switching between two visible windows to make a particular window the active window can be done two different ways. The simpler way is to click somewhere on the window you want to be the active one. To play it safe, it is usually a good idea to click in a clear area (where there are no words or pictures,) and the one place it will always be safe to click is the center of the title bar. So, click on the title bar of the other window. Switch back and forth several times, and finish by making Word your active Window.
Another way to switch between windows The other method to switch between active windows, and generally the most preferable one, is by using your taskbar buttons. If you click on the taskbar listing for an inactive window, it will become the active window and will appear in front of any window it overlaps with. Click on the taskbar button for the Internet Explorer window (remember, it is the one with the blue e) Be careful – if you click on the active window on the taskbar, it minimizes it, as we saw earlier. As you click back and forth between the taskbar buttons for our Word window and Internet Explorer , take note of the difference in appearance between the button for the active window and the inactive window. The button for the active window is brighter than the button for the inactive window. Make the Internet Explorer window the active window.
One more thing to notice, while you have the Internet Explorer window active : try pointing at the different buttons on the toolbar in Word. (Just point, don’t click.) Normally you would get a screen tip, however because it is not the active window, nothing, not even screen tips will work for it right now.
Closing resized windows If you close a window such as the Internet Explorer window, which was snapped to fill half the screen, without maximizing it first, it will, nevertheless, open full screen the next time. Try it. Close the Internet Explorer window and then re-open Internet Explorer. Notice how the window opens full-screen. Close Internet Explorer.
We are not going to get the same result however with our Word window because before we snapped it, we had manually customized its size and shape. Close the Word window, and then open the Word program. Note how the Word program opens in our custom size. In a public computing environment this could be very confusing to the next person who sits down. Try to remember to maximize any window you have custom sized before you close it.
Maximize and close Word.
