Introduction to Guide to Windows

Introduction: A Guide To PCs For Novice Users

This guide to Windows is designed to teach computer novices to use the personal computers (PCs) in ESU's PC laboratories. Learning to use PCs can be a problem, for various reasons. The hardest challenge that a novice PC user faces is that of adjusting to a computer's interface--how a computer looks and feels to its users.

Most new users think that computers ought to be as simple to operate as automobiles. Unfortunately, the age of inexpensive, truly easy-to-operate PCs are still a dream, for several reasons.

Truly easy-to-use interfaces are not likely to sell well, because they will cost more to develop: as a rule, a cheaply made product that function reasonably well will always outsell a more expensive, higher quality products.
General-purpose devices, as a rule, are not simple: the need to satisfy different kinds of customers dictates the use of compromise interfaces that please no one group of customers perfectly.
People solve problems in different ways, and different people have radically different ideas about how an "easy-to-use" interface should work.
Scientists have not developed economical devices that interpret human speech and gesture in "real" time.

PCs, however, can be mastered, given time, patience, and practice. This tutorial attempts to help users master ESU's PCs more quickly by presenting the basic features of the Windows 3.11 computer environment. It concentrates on the two aspects of this environment that, more than any other, determine Windows 3.11's look and feel:

the commands that control the Windows Desktop --that part of Windows 3.11 that tries to make your computer look like a desktop on a screen.
the File Manager --a program that manages the user's data, and gives a computer's storage the look and feel of a classic filing cabinet.

The Windows Desktop part of the tutorial explains how to arrange your windows to make it quicker and easier to do your work.
The File Manager section explains how to use the File Manager to copy, move, or erase files. It also states what these commands actually do and when you would want to use them.
The tutorial's authors believe that people become skilled computer users by developing an intuition for how a computer looks and feels. Knowing how a computer interface normally looks and feels is an important skill, in part because this knowledge allows a user to figure out when things are going wrong quickly--and to compensate for problems. Learning how to compensate for problems is important because computers can make it very easy to foul up your work--big-time. The "Guide to Windows" provides information on some of the common mistakes made by users, how to avoid them, and how to recover from an error. New users of Windows 3.11, for example, often "misplace" windows on their desktop, and occasionally erase files by accident. There is nothing more frustrating than spending an hour or two on a document and then misplacing the window, or erasing the file by accident. Learning how to manipulate your windows and how to use the file manager now will save you many hours and headaches later.

This tutorial is copyright (c) 1996 by David Price, Jon Harnish, Meng Ngov, Matt Pezzuto, and Phil Pfeiffer. Permission is hereby granted to use and reproduce this tutorial for non-commercial educational purposes, and to sell copies at a cost not exceeding the cost of reproduction. All other rights reserved.