WINDOWS DESKTOP - UNDERSTANDING WINDOW COMPONENTS

Windows creates a Documents folder for users to organize and save personal files. This folder, like all folders and applications in Windows, opens as a window. All windows have certain common elements.

Let’s examine the Documents window to learn the basic window elements.

            1. To open the Start menu, on the bottom-left corner of the screen,

            2. To open the Documents folder, in the second column of the start menu,

The Documents window may contain subfolders or subdirectories, which are like levels within the main folder. The following image outlines the major components of all windows:

Be aware that the window contents and display depend on your setup and the OS you’re running.

(a) Using a Toolbar

Every Vista window has a Toolbar that contains drop-down menus and commands. The available menus and commands vary depending upon what application controls the window.

There are several menus and commands that are available on every window. The Organize button opens a drop-down menu that allows users to organize the components displayed in the window. From this menu, users can manage the files and folders, they can change the layout of the window, and they can view document properties.

The Views button is also displayed on most windows. This button controls the view of the contents of the right side of the open window. There are seven different views available: Extra Large Icons, Large Icons, Medium Icons, Small Icons, List, Details, and Tiles.

Let’s switch to another view now. We’ll select Tiles view, which displays large file and folder icons.

        1. To access the View options, on the Toolbar,

A menu opens listing all of the view options:

To change the view, you can either move the slider bar next to the view you want, or you can click on the name of the view.

       2.      To select Tiles view, in the menu,

 

You see the folder contents displayed in Tiles view.

(b) Opening the Menu Bar

In previous versions of the Windows operating system, windows also contained a Menu bar.

This Menu bar was similar to the Toolbar, and it was located directly underneath the Title bar of a window. By default, the Menu bar is hidden in Windows Vista, but for those of us who like to see that familiar menu at the top of a window, Microsoft does provide an easy way to turn the Menu bar back on.

Let’s explore the Menu bar now.

  1.  To view the Menu bar, press

You will now see the Menu bar between the Address bar and the Toolbar in the window.

Let’s use the Menu bar as an alternative way to change the appearance of the window contents. This time we’ll choose Details.

This view displays more information about the file or folder than any other view. Depending upon what type of file or folder it is, you will see the date modified, the type of file, the size, and tags.

Tags are custom file properties that you create to help you find and organize your files.

           2. To access the View options, on the Menu bar,

You see the View menu.

3.To change the view, in the menu,

You see the window contents in Details view.

(c) Understanding the Address Bar

An Address bar appears at the top of every window and displays the current location as a series of links separated by small black triangles. This series of links is called a path, and it is the route to a file or folder on your computer.

You can change your location by either typing a new path or clicking a new location within the Address bar.

In Vista, the Address bar is sometimes called the Breadcrumb Address bar, based on the concept that a breadcrumb trail is a path back to a previously visited location.

Let’s assume “user” is logged on to a machine running Windows Vista. Ima needs to access a file in the class folder on the Desktop. The path to that file would be:

The small black triangles can also be used for navigation. If you click on the triangle next to a link, you will see a drop-down menu that lists all of the files and folders that are contained in each location. You can then click on any file or folder to move to that location.

Let’s see how this works now.

    1.To view the files and folders located in the User’s Personal folder, in the Address bar,

You will see a drop-down menu that contains all of the files and folders contained in your personal folder. You could move to any of these files or folders by clicking on the name in the drop-down menu.

      2. To close the drop-down menu, press:

The menu closes.

(d) Minimizing, Restoring, and Maximizing a Window

The Minimize button is the first of the three buttons in the top-right corner of the window. It is used to minimize or hide a window without closing it. This means that the application or document displayed in the window is still open, but hidden from view.

1. Let’s minimize the Documents window.

The window is minimized but you still see the window’s button on the taskbar. Once a window has been minimized, it can be restored or displayed again using the window’s button on the taskbar. Once the window is restored, you can begin working with the window contents again.

      2.  To restore the window, on the taskbar,

The window is restored and you see the window contents.

The Maximize button expands a window to fill the entire screen. It’s the middle button of the three in the top-right corner of the window. 

       3. To maximize the window,

The window expands to fill the entire screen. Once a window has been maximized, the Maximize button changes to a Restore Down button, which restores a window to its original size.

4.To restore down the window,

The window returns to its original size.

(e) Manually Resizing a Window

The border or frame around a window can be used to manually resize it in several different ways. There are four Resize cursors to resize a window:

Let’s manually resize the window.

       1. To position the cursor,

You see one of the Resize cursors:

 

           2.To resize the window,

(f) Using Scrollbars

When a window is not large enough to display all the information it contains, scrollbars can be used to access the window contents. Vertical scrollbars allow you to move vertically in a window. When window contents are wider than the window size, a horizontal scrollbar can be used to move horizontally in the window.

Let’s use the horizontal scrollbar.

            1. To use the horizontal scrollbar,

You see a different part of the window.

(g) Closing a Window

The Close button is used to close a window or dialog box. Keep in mind that closing a window ends the window process or application associated with the window. The window’s taskbar button will also disappear.

Let’s close the Documents window.

         1. To close the window, in the top-right corner,

The window is closed and its button is removed from the taskbar.

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