Desktop:
The Desktop is the screen from which everything is accessed. It is the integral component of what is called the Graphical User Interface (GUI, pronounced gooey). From the Desktop, any program, file or application can be accessed with only a few clicks of the mouse or keyboard.

Along the bottom of the screen (typically) is the Task Bar. The left side houses the START Menu button while the right holds the System Tray. On the Desktop, other then the "My Computer" icon, there are various other icons. The "Recycle Bin" and "Internet Explorer" icons are two common to every computer. The background of the Desktop starts out as a Teal/Green color. The color can be changed and pictures can be applied to the background. Those pictures are called Wallpaper.

The colors of the Desktop, the wallpaper, font type and size, location of icons and the Task Bar can all be altered to your liking (including hidden). But, none of the items I spoke of can be removed without causing problems.

Mouse Use:
When using the standard Two-Button mouse, all you need to remember is the Left button is for selecting and highlighting. The Right button is primarily for opening Context menus. (Context menus are "helper menus" filled with common commands). The buttons may be switched for a left-handed user.

The hardest part of the use of a mouse is the coordination. Trying to move a palm-sized critter to manipulate a tiny arrow on the screen takes time. That is why in every version of Windows, there are the games of Solitaire and Minesweeper and Paintbrush programs. Each of these are recommend to play or use to improve mouse skills. The two games can be found under START/Programs/Accessories/Games, the Paint program is found under Start/Programs/Accessories.

NOTE: In the event the keyboard goes amok while using the computer, the mouse can be used to close (and save) any applications and shut down the computer safely.

Files, Folders, Directories and Program Associations:
File Structure is a little messy. The best analogy is a File Cabinet. The hard drive in your computer is the filing cabinet. Each drawer is a directory (the folder icons) on the C:\ drive. Inside of those drawers are folders...or more directories. Sometimes there are papers loose in the drawer or in the folders, those papers are files. See the analogy?

File Associations are not quite as simple. Each program has it's own type of file it is associated with. (ex. Windows Paint files are BMP's, Wordprocessor files are DOC's, ect.) Some files may be opened by several different programs. This could be thought to be similar to a family tree with all of its associations and inter-twining.

Before Windows came about, there was no image to show what type of file it was or what program opened it. Programmers added a simple 3-character suffix to the end of the file called the File Extension. Some common extensions are DOC for Document, EXE for Executable, TXT - Text, COM - Command, INI - Initialization, ect… (see the chart below) Now, Windows programs have that nifty little icon beside them to tell you what it is or what program opens it. That icon is based off of the File Extension. If you change the extension, you change the icon and you change what program opens it up.

Some Program File Types:

As you can see from the list above, the file extension is typically an abbreviation of the actual application. This is stressed by the bold file types and their corresponding letters. When you have a program that you are not sure of the file extension, if there is a Save-As… command, the extension will appear in the File As Type box.  If there is no Save-As command, you can try guessing the extension by the name of the application.

Your Turn:
To better understand file, program and icon relationships, try this!

Right-click once on your Desktop. This opens a context menu. One of the choices is NEW, this opens a new list of items. In this list, choose Text Document. An icon will appear on your Desktop named New Text Document and it looks like a little notepad. As soon as you create that icon, it is waiting for you to change the name to something. For now, just press Enter to accept the current name. Can you see the .txt on the end of the file? (If not, you can't do this experiment at this time) Left-click once on that icon. Now press the F2 key on your keyboard. Ok, what did that do? It highlighted the name of the file so you can change it. You are going to only change the last three letters. Using your arrow keys and backspace key, change the .txt to .bmp and press Enter. See the icon change? Pretty neat huh? Once the icon changes (because of those three letters), the program used to open that file also changes. This doesn't mean you can use Paint to open what used to be a text file...you will get errors if you try.