Computer Basics Home Page

Computer Basics Home Page

Mac or Windows?--how to tell

How Do I Use the Mouse?

Rollin' that Mouse Around
Selecting with the mouse
Press and Drag your way to success!
Double Clicking to Open

What's all that stuff on the screen?

Guide to Macintosh Icons
Windows Icons
The Macintosh Desktop
Parts of the Desktop -- Windows
Menus on Macs
Menus on Windows

All About windows

Windows and how to control them on Macs
Windows and how to control them on Windows

The three kinds and three states of windows on Windows (really!)

Using Scroll Bars on Mac or Windows

All About Dialog Boxes

All the Rest of Those Details

How to Open an Application on Windows

Switching between Apps: on Windows: The Use of the Task Bar

Launching a Mac Application

Switching between Applications on the Mac

Using the Save As... Dialog Box
The Kinds of Files
Folders on a Mac
Folders on Windows
Mac Modifier Keys
Using Windows Keyboard Shortcuts
Editing text
Powering on and off your computer
Getting out of trouble on the Mac
Recovering form a crash, Windows
Getting more help in Windows
Getting Help with Your Macintosh
Deleting Files
Finding Files on the Macintosh
Finding Files and Folders on Windows PCs

Assumptions for these lessons

We have composed these pages assuming

• you have a computer in front of you
• that runs either some version of the Microsoft Windows operating system

versions 95, 98, 2000, ME

• or, if you have a computer using the Apple Macintosh operating system

  version 8 through 9.1 or some variant thereof

We also assume your computer has a mouse that rolls (there are trackball and trackpad and some other kinds of "mice" or pointing devices.

(Note that as of this writing (4/01) Apple has just shipped OS X (version 10). These lessons assume you use some version of OS 9 or earlier.)

We realize that operating systems will change over time as will pointing devices (mice) which would change our instructions and screen shots. But we've got to start with what we've got!