Windows Desktop

After your computer finishes loading windows into memory, you arrive at a screen knows as the windows desktop. The desktop is the workspace, the surface on which you spread out any file folders, programs and documents you want to use. Technically, the desktop is the area behind all the objects on the screen, inculding any windows that you open. No matter what you do in the windows environment, you can always get back to the desktop even if you open an application program and expand it to fill the whole screen. Below the desktop you will most likely see a gray bar knows as the taskbar which will be discussed later.

A typical windows 98 desktop is populated with the little labeled pictures knows as icons. When you double click a icon, you open it uop into the rectangular frame called a window. The icos that appear on you desktop when you start windows provide quick access to the places on your compuer that you visit most often. Desktop contains various types of icons.

Folder icons

Folder icnos open into folder windows which reveal the contents of particular folders in your computerrized filing system.

Program Icons

Program icons open into applicaion programs, that is they load the associated programs into memory and start them running.

Document icons

Document icons open into documents. When you double click a document icon, windows starts the application (word processing program, Spreadsheet,database, or whatever) in which the document was created and then opens the document itself.

Shortcut Icons

Shortcut icons provide alternative entry ways to programs, documents and folders. Shortcut icons always have arrows on them and their lables frequently contain the words.