In a real-life environment, if we can't see something, we might move closer to it, bring it closer to us, change the angle of our vision, or whatever strategy
seems to work best at the time. Similarly, in a Windows "environment," if you can't see something, there are many things you can do to make it so that you can
see what you want to see--or hear what you want to hear, or "touch" (with your pointer-arrow "finger") what you want to touch. You do not have to put up with any obstruction that gets in your way or simply annoys.
The links below are to sites that introduce you to Windows--specifically, Windows 98, which is the operating system
on your laptop. Almost all of the lessons given here will apply pretty well to Windows 95, too. I have also included links at the bottom of this page for the two Mac users. After you visit one or all of these sites, study the information there, and practice with your laptop, you'll be able to shove things on your screen around with despotic abandon.
When you've finished reading these materials, please visit the page on
Finding Your Way Around.
- Windows 95/98: Getting Started
http://help.unc.edu/cgi-bin/getdocs?docnumber=dws07
A comprehensive general document, with pictures of what you actually see when you
look at your laptop--about 12 pp. long. Covers just about everything the shorter documents below do, plus some extra. An extremely useful addition is the section on Keyboard Shortcuts. If you dislike
using the mouse (as I do), that section is for you.
Introduction to Windows 98
http://www.depts.drew.edu/acadtech/docs/Win98/win98.htm
Another clear general overview, again with pictures, of just about everything you
see on your screen when the laptop starts. About 9 pp. long.
Windows 98 - Introduction
http://arachnid.pepperdine.edu/planitpepperdine/Training/Win98/Win98 Intro.html
This site took a slightly longer time to load than I
consider proper, but once it did load it gave up the goods. Pay especial attention to the sections on Working with Windows and File Management (about which more later). About 8 pp. long, again with
helpful pictures of what you actually see when you look at Windows 98.
Taking Windows to Task
http://www.geekgirls.com/windows_taskbar.htm
A more text-based article (decorated with some pretty but petite purple fonts) that concentrates in depth on how to move between one open program
and another open program, as we did in the HTML class when we moved between NoteTab and Internet Explorer (our text editor and our
browser). About 6 pp. long. There are other general articles on Windows accessible from this page,
too, and a clickable glossary of terms.
Using the Macintosh
http://nellie.pacificu.edu/uis/webdocs/macguide/macguide.html.
A little flippant in tone, and I could wish it were organized better (I
can't estimate a page length, for instance), but there seems to be a surprising dearth of Macintosh support guides on the web. This site does at least have a comprehensive glossary and some good
explanations of things like the Chooser and the Finder.
Computer Basics
http://cuip.uchicago.edu/wit/2001/modules/compbasics/index.html
There's lots of stuff on this site for both Windows and Mac users,
including yet more desktop orientations and reminders of how to use the mouse. This site is likely to be of most use to the Mac users.
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