When you switch on the computer, various sounds can be heard from deep inside the computer. After a little while a smart background appears, together with all sorts of small pictures and symbols. This background is called the Desktop. The desktop is a very descriptive term as you can add all sorts of things on it, either next to or on top of each other, any way you want.
When the desktop is displayed, it can still take a while before the computer is ready. The Mouse pointer shows that you still have to wait a little.
Try holding the mouse and moving it without lifting it from the surface. The mouse pointer on the screen follows your movements, and simultaneously tells you the status of your computer:
The computer is busy. All its resources are in use and all you can do is wait.
The computer is working in the background. You can carry on working, but things will happen more slowly.
When the computer is ready, the mouse pointer changes to its normal shape. You can point to and select objects, and do much more as you will learn, using the tip of the arrow.
Hard disk
The sound you heard from inside the computer when it started came from its hard disk. All the programs are stored here and are read into the computer’s memory whenever they are started. When the time comes to save your own work, when you have written a letter, for example, this is also stored on the hard disk. This means that you can retrieve it later.
Icons
Items on the desktop are shown using little pictures called icons. You will find these icons all over the place in Windows 2000, including on the Start button and the Taskbar.
Shortcuts
The icons on the desktop are shortcuts to programs you’re supposed to use a lot. These shortcuts point to programs stored somewhere on your hard disk. You can create shortcuts to programs and other objects yourself. A shortcut can point to a document such as a letter you have written and saved on your machine’s hard disk.
When you install new programs on your computer, it creates its own shortcuts in different places in Windows2000. The theory is that you will always be able to start programs easily no matter where on the hard disk they may be.
Taskbar
At the bottom of the screen is the Taskbar – a very important component of Windows2000.
The Start button lets you start all programs on your computer via shortcuts.
Programs
Windows2000 consists of a number of programs, each of which carries out a specific task. If you want to write a letter, you will use a word processing program; if you want to draw, then you will use a program specially designed for this purpose.
In this booklet you will be introduced to a number of programs included with Windows2000, which together make up a large part of the user interface.
A click…
with the mouse is a quick press on the left mouse button. Such a click is usually used to choose an option or a function with the mouse. In earlier versions of Windows only the left mouse button was used, but in Windows2000 the right mouse button is often used as well (see page 16). But in this booklet, when I ask you to click, I will be referring to the left mouse button.
The opening screen
If you have just unpacked your machine, plugged it in, and started it, it will prompt you to enter a password. If you simply enter your name and leave the password field blank, you will not be asked for a password every time you start Windows2000. This dialog box appears whenever you turn your computer on:
Dialog box
The Getting started with Windows2000 is a good example of a dialog box. Every time a window requires you to make a choice before proceeding, it is called a dialog box – you are in a dialog with the program. A single dialog box usually contains many choices. Later you will see that a dialog box can contain several tabs just like an old fashioned archive or address book. The Getting started with Windows2000 dialog box should be closed. Try this on your own computer (if this dialog box is not displayed on your screen, then just read through the following points):
- Move the mouse so that the mouse pointer points at (is over) the Close button in the dialog box and click once. The dialog box closes.
- Next time you start Windows 2000, this dialog box will be displayed again. This might seem like fun at first, but when you get bored with it, removing the “X” in the little check-field at the bottom of the dialog box (by clicking in the field) will stop this dialog box from being displayed each time Windows starts.
