Windows Basics
Jeff Williamson
Northern Virginia Community College
www.nvcc.edu/home/nvwillj/windows-basics/
nvwillj@nvcc.edu
Windows 95 basics
I'll use the same name for Windows 95 and Windows 98 here because
they are very similar.
First some terms:
Computers are, well, you know what computers are. And you know
that you can type to them but you can't talk to them, they can say things
but they can't check to see if you understood, etc. They have their
own behaviors.
Windows is your operating system. It coordinates
the computer with programs (like word processors and Internet browsers).
It is not really a program itself; it doesn't really do much from the
user's perspective. Windows has its own behaviors, on top of the computer's
behaviors.
Programs (or applications) that run in Windows include Netscape
Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and the America
Online software that connects your computer to AOL. Programs are
what you use to do what you want to do. And programs have their own
behaviors, on top of Windows behaviors, on top of computer behaviors.
So when you're using a program, you're really doing computer stuff, Windows
stuff, and the program's stuff - 3 things at the same time. And that's
before you've opened a single file!
Trouble spots
Window controls. Here's one way to understand the main window
controls in the upper right of every Windows 95/98 program: The first two
buttons- minimize and maximize - toggle between two states.
Minimize
State 1 (default) - Your program window is open and visible -
the normal state. Clicking the minimize button creates State 2.
State 2 - Your program window is not visible. The program
is not closed, however - an icon for it appears in the task bar at the bottom
of the screen. Clicking that icon creates State 1.
 If your program seems to
disappear, look at the taskbar at the bottom of the screen. Click on any
program icons to view them.
Maximize 
State 1 (default) - For most programs (although this varies),
the default state is full-screen - the program window fills the screen
from corner to corner. Click the maximize button creates State 2.
State 2 - The program window shrinks to something less than
full-screen.
Check the size of your program
window - new users often leave it small by accident. If the window
does not fill the screen, click the Maximize button.
Close 
New users seem to understand Close well - click it and your program
ends.
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