Windows XP
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You access the Start menu by clicking the Start button. At the top of the Start menu you'll see the name of the current user on multi-user systems.
The left side of the menu features programs you use frequently, and this list will change with use. You can also pin items to the top of this section, above the line, ensuring they are always displayed.
The right side of the Start menu provides quick access to important folders, the Control Panel, help, search, and Internet connections.
The All Programs option gives you access to all the programs and utilities installed on your system. Unfortunately, when opened the Programs menu obscures the right half of the Start menu. You can click anywhere on the Start menu outside the Programs menu to see the full Start menu again.
The Taskbar is one of the most useful features
of the Windows Desktop. So much so, that it has a nasty habit of getting
cluttered and almost unmanageable. With XP, Microsoft finally addresses
these problems, making the Taskbar much smarter.
From left to right, the Taskbar displays the Start button, Quick Launch
bar, program buttons, Notification Area and clock. They're all locked
in place, although you can unlock them via the Taskbar's Properties (right-click
a vacant spot in the Taskbar and choose Properties from the pop-up menu).
By the way, if you can't see the Quick Launch bar you can display it by:
1. Right-clicking an empty area on the Taskbar and choosing Properties
from the pop-up menu.
2. On the Taskbar tab, tick the Show Quick Launch check box and click
OK.
The Quick Launch bar provides one-click launching of programs and documents.
You can drag any program or document to this bar, when unlocked, to customise
it.
The Notification Area also works hard to reduce clutter. It hides items from view when they're not in use; you can redisplay them with a single click. You can customise which items are hidden and which are permanently displayed through the Customize Notifications option.
Keep your eye on the Notification Area. XP displays system messages in Notification Balloons regularly in this area: You'll see everything from a reminder to activate your copy of XP to messages letting you know you have files ready to copy to CD. You can often activate an action by clicking a Notification Balloon.
With each recent version of Windows, the My Documents folder has gained increasing prominence. With Windows XP, My Documents becomes the central focus for all file management, with the old Windows Explorer being relegated to a distant sub-menu on the Start menu. Really, My Documents and Windows Explorer are two views of the same thing: Open My Documents and click the Folders button on the toolbar and what you see is Windows Explorer. The only difference is that the My Documents view features the new Task Pane on the left; Windows Explorer replaces the Task Pane with a hierarchical folder tree.
When you have no item selected, the Task Pane in My Documents displays options to create a new folder, publish the folder to the Web, or share the folder. It also has links to the Desktop, Shared Documents (on systems with multiple users), My Computer and My Network Places.
My Documents also provides quick access to the three special multimedia folders, My Pictures, My Music and My Videos.
There's a reason for this shift. XP makes it much easier for multiple users to share a single computer and its design incorporates this multi-user philosophy. Each user has his or her own My Documents folder. That means the My Documents shortcut on the Start Menu points to a different location depending on who's currently logged in.
So, if Tomasina, Dana and Harriet share the same computer, when Dana is logged on My Documents will open:
\Documents and Settings\Dana\My Documents
When Harriet is logged on, it will open:
\Documents and Settings\Harriet\My Documents
If you want to share documents or folders with other users of the same computer, place them in the \Shared Documents folder (\Documents and Settings\All Users\Shared Documents) instead of My Documents.
Every folder's Task Pane contains at least three sections: File and Folder Tasks, providing file management options; Other Places, providing links to other important folders and functions; and Details, where information about the current folder or file is displayed, including preview images for graphics, photos and video files. There are also special folders - My Pictures, My Videos, My Music - which have an additional section in the Task Pane dedicated to content-specific tasks.
This task orientation makes file management on XP considerably easier than in its predecessors. For instance, to move a group of files, select them and either drag them to one of the Other Places links, or click the Move The Selected Items task, and select a destination from the dialog which appears. Other common file tasks include copy, rename, delete, print, e-mail, and post to the Web.
If you do a new install of Windows XP, the sole icon on your Desktop will be the Recycle Bin, with the default wallpaper, known as 'bliss', as background.
2. The Start Menu
The Start menu has bulked up and been completely reorganised. The left side lists the programs you use most often (or, immediately after installation, the programs Microsoft wants to encourage you to use). The right side provides access to the main folders, Control Panel, Help, Search and more. Hover over All Programs and a menu containing all your installed programs pops out - rather obnoxiously obscuring half the Start menu in the process. Items in the Start menu will move around, going to the 'head of the queue' if you use them frequently; being shunted aside when you don't.
3. The Taskbar
The Taskbar is locked into place by default. The Start button is still on the left with the Quick Launch bar, from which you can launch programs with a single click, to its immediate right; then comes the program button area, displaying an icon for every open window; and, on the far right, the Notification Area and clock. In the Notification Area you'll see icons for utilities which run in the background.
4. Taskbar program groups
One of the Taskbar's new tricks is the way it handles multiple programs. If you open a whole pile of programs, XP keeps Taskbar clutter under control by grouping similar programs. For instance, open three Word documents and, if space is a little tight, the Taskbar will display a single button for all three. Click the button to select from a pop-up list of open documents.
5. The Notification Area
Another area of the Taskbar which is notorious for becoming cluttered is the former System Tray, now the Notification Area. XP handles this by hiding icons you haven't used recently. When it does so, it pops up a little message to let you know what it's done. Look out for other messages - XP pops up message balloons in the Notification Area for all sorts of events. You can reveal any hidden Notification icons by clicking the little button on the Taskbar. Once you're done, they'll slide back out of view.