Microsoft Windows

 

Microsoft Windows:

 

Microsoft windows is an operating system marketed by Microsoft Corporation, USA. Windows is a graphical user interface. MS windows executes one computer program within one window. Therefore several programs can be executed at the same time each in its own window. The window can be executed at the same time, each in its own window. The window can be enlarged to fill the enter screen or can be sized and moved to any part of the screen.

 

There are different versions of MS windows. The most popular are

1.     MS windows NT (New technology)

2.     MS windows 95/98/2000/XP

 

GENERAL FEATURES OF WINDOWS

 

GUI (Graphical User Interface)

A graphical user interface is a means by which the computer can be given commands for the task which needs to be performed and are displayed on the screen in the form of picture icons. The user has to click on the icon to do a particular work.

 

CLIPBOARD

Clipboard is an area in the computers memory where windows temporarily store the copied data. The clipboard is a facility to transfer the data between two programs. When different applications are running, the data in one application can be copied or moves to another application by the using of copy and paste application.

 

OLE (Object linking and embedding)

Object linking and embedding is a method where an object can be pasted from one application to another application and changes in the original picture can also be brought to the pasted picture.

 

Multitasking

MS windows allow executing more than one program at a time. Each program will work in its own window and the user can switch to any program without closing the previous one. The window can be displayed side by side or one behind the other.

 

What you see is what you get

 

When the document is printed on the paper, the printout will look exactly like the document is displayed on the screen. That is, the text will be printed using the same character size, text formatting, alignment and pictures if any included in the position it is displayed on the screen.

 

 

 

 

PARTS OF MS- WINDOWS SCREEN:

The desktop has a number of objects in it. Some of these objects are

 

1.     My computer

2.     Recycle bin

3.     Network Neighborhood

4.     Taskbar

5.     Start menu

6.     Files and Folders

7.     Shortcuts

My Computer: -My computer is a tool to browse all disks ( floppy disk, Hard disk, Compact disk) connected to the computer. Folders and files in any drive can be accessed from My computer icon. To start my computer, double click on my computer Icon, window will appear displaying the icon for floppy disk, hard disk, compact disk, control panel and printers. My computer can be used to do following operations.

 

1.     To view the contents of a disk in a particular drive.

2.     To view the contents of a folder.

3.     To view the contents of a file.

4.     To close any open application.

 

Recycle Bin: - All deleted folders and files are stored in the Recycle bin. It is a holding place for the deleted files. These files are not deleted from the hard disk until the Recycle bin is emptied. Therefore, there are possibilities of retrieving the files, which are deleted by mistake.

Network Neighborhood: - Through Network Neighborhood we can access two or more computers simultaneously.

Task Bar: - it is usually located at the bottom of the desktop. It contains start bottom at the left side and time indicator at the right side.

Start bottom: - It is pointed at the left side of the task bar. Computer activities can be initiated from start button.

Files and folders: - A file is a collection of related information. A folder is just like a container. We can save file or sub folder inside a folder.

Working with folders: - To create a folder, Right click on the desktop. A short cut menu will be displayed. Select new and then folder. A new folder appears with the text new folder. Type a new name for the folder. To finish it click some where outside the folder.

 

To open the folder, double click on the folder name.

To create a sub folder, in existing folders, open the folder in which the sub- folders are to be created, double click on it and right click on an empty area inside the folder window and select New and then folder. Type the name of the folder and click somewhere out side the folder Icon.

To rename a folder, click on the folder icon and then click on the folder name, type a new name or edit the existing name and click outside the folder icon.

To delete a folder, first drag the folder to the Recycle bin or select the folder and press delete key. When folder is deleted, windows delete all the contents of that folder.

 

Working with Notepad

 

Notepad is a text editor available under MS-windows. It allows typing and editing of the text. As it is a text editor, text can only be typed and can not be formatted i.e. features like changing the fonts, Bold, Italic, Underline etc. the extension given to the files saved under Notepad is .TXT.

To start notepad, select

Start à Program à Accessories à Notepad

 

Limitations of Notepad

 

i)                it has no paragraph or character formatting capability.

ii)              Files are limited to text only.

iii)            The size of each file is limited to about 50k

iv)             It does not have any pagination options like page break

 

Working with WordPad

 

WordPad is a document mode word processor available in MS- window to type, edit, save multiple textual documents.

 

Features of WordPad

i)                It displays the standard toolbar, formatting tool bar, status bar and ruler.

ii)              Margins, tabs and indents can be set easily.

iii)            Allows print preview.

iv)             Different font types and font sizes can be used in the document.

v)               Bold, Italics, underlines, and text coloring features

vi)             Left, center, and Right alignments are available.

vii)           Bullet markers can be included in the document.

viii)         Pictures can be included

 

 

Drawbacks of WordPad

 

i)                Headers and footers cannot be included in the documents.

ii)              Justified alignments is not available

iii)            Double and one half line spacing is not available.

iv)             Manual page breaks cannot be included into the documents.

v)               Spellings check feature is not available.

vi)             Subscript and superscript character formats are not available.

Parts of Window

 

1)     Control Box: - it will be displayed at the top left side of the application window. It contains the Restore, Move, Maximize, Minimize, and close option.

2)     Title bar: - title bar will be displayed at top of the windows. It will display the file name and the name of the application.

3)     Minimize Button:-It is used to minimize the active window.

4)      Maximize button: -it is used to maximize the active window.

5)     Restore button: - it is used to restore the window to its previous size.

6)     Close button: - it is used to close the active application.

7)     Menu bar: - the menu bar will be displayed below the title bar.

8)     Status bar: - the status bar will be displayed at the bottom of the window.

9)     Scroll bars: - generally application windows will have two scrollbars, one at the bottom and one at the right side.

 

Microsoft paint

Microsoft paint is a program used to draw the images. A large number of drawing tools and different colors are available to create good pictures. The picture created in MS- Paint is bit mapped graphics. A Bitmap is a collection of bits of information that creates a image. The files created in paint will have the extension .BMP.

To load MS-Paint, select   Start à  Program à Accessories à Paint

Different drawing tools (toolbox) are displayed at the left side. A color box is situated at the bottom of the screen; the middle empty area is the drawing area. The status line is displayed below the color box.  The color box allows selection of different colors while drawing the pictures. The toolbox contains various tools used to draw the images. Some of the important tools are given below.

 

i)                Scissors: - it is used to select any area of the picture by drawing a free hand line around the area to be selected.

ii)              Pick: - it is used to select a rectangular portion of the drawing.

iii)            Eraser: - if used with left mouse button it is an eraser or if used with right mouse button , t acts as a color eraser.

iv)             Paint can: - it is used to fill any enclosed area with the foreground color.

v)               Pick color: - it is used to select a particular color, which is used in the picture.

vi)             Magnifier: - this tool is used to zoom into a particular part of the picture.

vii)           Pencil: - the pencil works much like the Brush for freehand art. It is the convenient way to draw the freehand lines. To draw straight, vertical, horizontal or diagonal lines, hold the shift keys.

viii)         Brush: - it is the basic painting tool. It works like a pen or brush. This tool can be used to create a freehand art. Using this tool, select any color , to draw the freehand design, click and drag inside the drawing area. The size and shape of brush can be changed by selecting the required size and shape of the brush from tools options area in the bottom of the tool box.

ix)             Airbrush: - it works like a spray can, spraying a mist of paints where ever needed.

x)               Text: - this tool is used to type the text inside the picture.

xi)             Line: - this tool is used to draw the straight lines.

xii)           Curve: -This tool is generally used to draw the curves.

xiii)         Polygon: - this tool is used to create an endless variety of polygon shapes.

xiv)         Ellipse: - it is used to draw the circle or ellipse.

xv)           Rounded Box: - it works like the regular box tool, but it creates boxes with Rounded corners.

CALCULATOR

The calculator is used to perform simple or complex calculations. There are two types of calculator.1) standard 2) scientific

To start calculator, select       Start à Program à Accessories à Calculator

Using the calculator

·       Clear the calculator’s display by pressing SC or clicking C button.

·       Enter the number by typing through keyboard or clicking through the mouse.

·       If any mistake is done while typing any number, press the Backspace key.

·       To clear the calculator and to start calculator again, click on C button.

·       To clear only the current entry by preserving result, click on CE button.

·       Click on the operators (+, -, ٪, *, sqrt) etc. and type other numbers.

·       To get the answers, press Enter or click on = button.