Microsoft Windows 79

C H A P T E R

09
MICROSOFT
WINDOWS
Microsoft Windows stands for ‘Microsoft- Wide
Windows 95
Interactive Network Development for Office
Work Solution.’ Microsoft Windows is a series of It is a graphical user interface based operating
system. It was released on 24th August, 1995 by
graphical interface operating system developed,
Microsoft.
marketed and sold by Microsoft. A user can
easily interact with the windows programs or Features
applications by selecting relevant options, (i) It is a mixed of 16-bit/32-bit Windows
through the mouse or by entering characters operating system.
through the keyboard. (ii) It is consumer-oriented.
(iii) It supports FAT32 file system, multi-display,
Versions of MS-Windows Web TV and the Internet Explorer.
Some important versions of MS-Windows are as
follows
Windows 98
It was developed in 1998. This was produced in two
Windows NT main versions. The first Windows 98 version was
plagued with programming errors but the Windows
(New Technology) 98 second edition came out later was much better
A version of Windows introduced in July, 1993 with many errors resolved.
and made specifically for businesses. It offers
better control over workstation capabilities to Features
help network administrators. (i) It supports Internet Explorer 4.0.1.
(ii) Windows 98 was the first operating system to
Features use the Windows Driver Model (WDM).
(i) It is based on High Level Language.
(iii) It includes a FAT32 converter utility for
(i) It is able to run on DOS, Windows 3 and converting FAT16 drives to FAT32 without
Win 32 applications. formatting the partition.
(iii) It has a 32-bit Windows applications. (iv) It also supports many peripheral devices
(iv) It provides higher stability and security. (USB, DVD etc).
80 Learn, Revise & Practice ~ Computer Awareness

Windows ME Features
Windows ME (Millennium Edition) launched in (i) It can be installed Pentium 4, higher, 512MB
June 2000, but it has been historically plagued RAM, 32 MB video card and 40 GB hard disk.
with programming errors which may be (ii) It enhances the features of visual style.
frustrating for home users.
Windows 7
Features It is an OS released by Microsoft on 22nd October,
(i) It is designed for single CPU. 2009. It is an upgrade of Windows XP and Vista. It
(ii) It supports 8 or more CPU (the maximum does not include some standard applications like
32 CPU). Windows Movie Maker, Windows Mail, etc.
(iii) The minimum internal storage is 64MB
Features
and maximum 4GB.
(i) It supports 64-bit processor.
(iv) It introduced Multilingual User Interface
(ii) It provides touch, speech, handwriting
(MUI).
recognition.
Windows XP (iii) It supports a playback of media in MP4.
It is an OS produced by Microsoft for use on (iv) It includes Windows Bio-metric framework.
personal computers. Microsoft released (v) It provides multiple firewall.
Windows XP on 25th October, 2001.
Windows 8
Some versions of Windows XP are as follows
It is a personal computer operating system that was
(i) Windows XP Home edition is a version developed by Microsoft and released on 26th
made for home users. October, 2012.
(ii) Windows XP Professional is made for
business users. Features
(i) It is a 64-bit logical CPU.
Features
(ii) It provides 3D Graphic supports and Internet
(i) It has various users with independent
Explorer-10.
profiles.
(iii) It is based on Microsoft’s Metro design
(ii) It has 3.75 GB free space on the disk and
language.
that the total size of the disk is 19.5 GB.
(iv) It supports new emerging technology like
(iii) Atleast 64 MB of RAM internal storage.
USB 3.0, cloud computing.
(iv) It provides 1.5 GB of available space on the
hard disk. Windows 10
(v) It includes video adapter and monitor with It is a personal computer operating system
Super VGA (Video Graphics Array) or developed and released by Microsoft on 29th July,
higher resolution. 2015.
(vi) It supports sound card, CD-ROM,
DVD-ROM drive, speakers or headphones. Features
(i) It is easy to used social media sites like
Windows Vista Facebook, Twitter.
It is an operating system developed by Microsoft (ii) Windows 10 will also include a ‘game DVR’
for use on personal computers, including home mode to allow recordings of the last 30 seconds
and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs and of play, all better for the social gaming.
media center PCs. It was released worldwide on (iii) Windows 10 interface to adapt based on the
30th January, 2007. hardware it is running on.
Microsoft Windows 81

Tit-Bits
■ Object Linking and Embedding (OLE)
Users can open these programs by double click on
provides a compare documents combining icons. If you move an icon on your desktop, this is
information from several different application called ‘dragging’ and after releasing it, it will be
programs such as graphs, charts, music, video, called ‘dropping.’
clipart, etc.
Some of the icons displayed on the desktop are as
■ To shut down the computer, we need to click
follows
Start button and then select Shut down key.
■ Windows Explorer is a file manager application
1. Computer It is the most important icon on the
that is included with releases of the Microsoft desktop, which contains icons of document
Windows OS. folders, hard disk’s partition, each removable
disk drive. e.g. Floppy disk, CD, DVD, etc. It also
Desktop allows the users to access drives, printers,
When we turn ON the computer then the first removable disk or other system applications.
screen, which will be display on the computer 2. Recycle Bin It is also a form of icon on the
is known as desktop. desktop, which contains deleted files, folders or
The background image of desktop is called shortcuts. If we delete a file or folder then it goes
wallpaper. A small arrow or blinking symbol, to recycle bin. From recycle bin, we can restore
moving on the desktop, is called cursor. the deleted files or folders on proper place.
Desktop contains Start menu, Task bar, icons,
Once the recycle bin is empty then we won’t be
gadgets, etc.
able to restore those files and folders again.
Some important components of desktop are
organised as follows 3. Network It consists of all network
connections, which make possible to connect the
Icons computer from Intranet.
A small image of a program, shown on the 4. Documents This folder contains all your files
desktop with program name is known as icon. which you have created and saved in it. It also
Icons are small pictures that represent files, contains all types of file format Word processor,
folders, programs and other items. Spreadsheet, PowerPoint, image, etc.
STRUCTURE OF WINDOWS

Word Document
Recycle Bin

Gadgets

Dialogue
Box

Desktop
Screen/Display

Start Button Start Menu Task Bar

82 Learn, Revise & Practice ~ Computer Awareness

Task Bar the Close button. It helps to terminate the

Initially, the long horizontal bar at the bottom of running program.
the desktop is known as Task bar. When we open 2. Minimize Button It reduces to window to a
a program or any window, then the button of that button on the task bar. It helps to shrink the
program will be displayed on the task bar. window.
Generally, task bar consists of three parts 3. Maximize Button It enlarges the window to
(i) Start button (ii) Middle section occupy the whole desktop. It expands the size
of window fit to the desktop.
(iii) Notification area
Scroll Bar
Start Menu It appears at the right (or left) side or at the
This menu is the main gateway of our computer’s bottom of the window. A window can display a
program such as files, folders and settings. Start document, i.e. larger than the window area, so
menu also contains most recently opened with the help of scroll bar arrow, the user can
programs. scroll a document in the window area to bring the
Start menu have following options view of hidden portion of document. There are
1. All Programs It contains a list of installed two types of scroll bars, i.e. Horizontal scroll bar
programs. When we install any software, it and Vertical scroll bar.
automatically shows in this menu. Menu Bar
2. Favourites It is a collection of book marked Each window contains its own menu which
web pages. performs specific actions when they have been
3. Documents It shows a list of most recently selected.
opened documents. The menu bar consists of several options as follows
4. Setting It includes Control Panel, Printers, 1. File Menu contains options like New, Open,
Taskbar, etc. Close, Save, Save As, Print, etc.
5. Find It searches for specific files or folders. 2. Edit Menu contains options like Undo, Cut,
6. Log Off It provides a password to protect Copy, Paste, Clear, etc.
from unauthorised access. 3. View Menu like Normal, Toolbar, Print
7. Turn Off (Shut down) To shut down or Layout, etc.
restart the system. 4. Insert Menu contains options like Header,
Structure of a Window Footer, etc.
Window is a rectangular area which provides an 5. Help Menu for tutorials or helpful
environment to run many programs. information.
Some parts of the window are as follows Dialog Box
When we perform certain operation on our
Title Bar
document and click on the Close button without
It is located at the top of window or any dialog
saving the document then dialog box will be
box, which displays the name of the window or
appear on the screen.
software program. Title bar contains atleast three
small buttons. Generally, dialog box contains message, Close
button, Yes button, No button and Cancel button.
1. Close Button At the right edge of the title
It is mainly used to suggest that what to do next.
bar, there is a square containing a [X] called
Microsoft Windows 83

Main Programs Inside the Games

Windows Windows have some games like Chess Titans,
Hearts, Freecell, Mahjong Titans, Purble place,
Notepad Solitaire, Spider Solitaire, etc.
It is a text editor program. Notepad is most
To open Click on Start button ® All Programs
commonly used to the edit or view text files. The
® Games
file format of Notepad files is .txt (text document).
To open Click on Start button ® All Programs Tit-Bits
® Accessories ® Notepad ■ Standby drops the computer into a very low power
mode.
WordPad ■ Hibernate is a feature of computer operating
It is an another text editor program including system where the contents of RAM are written to
some few features such as complex formatting, non-volatile storage such as hard disk before
power OFF the computer.
pictures, etc. The extension of WordPad file is .rtf ■ Clipboard is a temporary storage in computer
(rich text format). memory that stores the cutted or copied data.
To open Click on Start button ® All Programs
® Accessories ® WordPad Files
These are the collection of data stored on
Paint auxiliary storage media. In Windows, files are the
It is a drawing program, used to create drawing or basic unit to store data. The name given to a file
edit digital pictures (images). The extension of or document by the user is called file name. Each
paint file is .png or. jpg or. bmp. file has a specific filename and has a file extension
that identifies the file type. Some common filename
To open Click on Start button ® All Programs extensions are as follows
® Accessories ® Paint .docx MS-Word document
.rtf WordPad document
Calculator .txt Notepad text file
It performs addition, subtraction, multiplication, .eml E-mail file
division, etc. .exe Executable file
To open Click on Start button ® All Programs .xlsx MS-Excel file
® Accessories ® Calculator .htm
HTML file (Web page)
.html
Media Player .pptx MS-PowerPoint presentation
Windows media player is an easy-to-use interface ZIP File ZIP stands for Zone Information
to play digital media files, organise digital media Protocol. This is an application that allows for the
collection, burn CDs, etc. compression of application files.
To open Click on Start button ® All Programs Executable File When a file contains
® Windows Media Player instructions that can be carried out by the
computer, it is often called an executable file.
84 Learn, Revise & Practice ~ Computer Awareness

Folders MS-Windows Shortcut Keys

These are containers that you can use to store Keys Description
files. Folders can also store other folders, i.e. Delete Delete characters to the right of
cursor
sub-folders. You can create any number of
Backspace Delete characters to the left of the
sub-folders and each can hold any number of files
cursor
and additional sub-folders.
Ctrl + A Select all
Windows Libraries F3 Search for a file or folder
A library can contain files and folders stored on Alt + Enter View properties for the selected
item
the local computer. Users interact with libraries in
ways similar to how they would interact with Alt + F4 Close the active item, or quit the
active program
other folders.
Alt + Spacebar Opens the shortcut menu for the
Different types of library are as follows active window
(i) Documents Library It is used to organise F2 Rename selected item
and arrange Word processing documents, Ctrl + Right Move the insertion point to the
Spreadsheets, Presentation and other text Arrow beginning of the next word
related files. Ctrl + Left Arrow Move the insertion point to the
(ii) Pictures Library It is used to organise and beginning of the previous word
arrange your digital pictures. Ctrl + Alt + Del Restart the computer
(iii) Music Library It is used to organise and Ctrl + Esc Display the Start menu
arrange your digital music, such as songs, F5 Refresh the active window
etc. Esc Cancel the current task
(iv) Videos Library It is used to organise and Window To display or hide the Start menu
arrange your videos, such as clips, recording, Window + D To display the desktop
etc. Window + L To Lock the keyboard

QUESTION BANK
1. In Windows NT, NT stands for 3. Which of the following is not a feature of
(1) New Terminology Windows 98?
(2) New Technique (1) It supports Internet Explorer 4.0.1.
(3) New Technology (2) It also supports many peripheral devices USB,
(4) Normal Technique DVD
(3) It was the first operating system to use the WDM
2. If you are performing Windows 98 (4) It provides multiple firewall.
operating system to Windows XP you are
performing a(n) [IBPS Clerk 2014]
4. In Windows ME, what does ME stand for?
(1) Millennium Edition
(1) push up (2) China
(2) Micro Expert
(3) patch (4) pull down
(3) Macro Expert
(5) update
(4) Multi Expert