There is a term in computerese (computer language). It is called GUI (pronounced to rhyme with `gooey'). It means graphical user interface. When we say that Windows has a graphical user interface, we mean that it shows you graphical images, or icons, representing everything inside your computer. You work with the objects represented by the graphics by clicking or double clicking them with your mouse. These graphics are all pasted down on a background called the desktop. Microsoft, the developers of Windows, called it the desktop to draw an analogy with your work desk. The desktop has the famous Windows Clouds background. The background can be changed to suit your tastes.

You control everything using your computer's mouse. The mouse controls the pointer, which looks like an arrow-shaped UFO. You use the mouse and its pointer to point at things, grab them, drag them around. Oh, you can also us the keyboard, but graphical operating system like Windows love mice more then keyboards.

That gunboat gray strip along the bottom of the desktop is called the taskbar. It's the Windows' main control centre. On the left end of the taskbar is the start button. On the right end of the taskbar is the system tray. I like to call it the loud time, because it typically looks like a speaker shouting out the current time of the day. Other items may show up in the system tray. If you don't have a sound system in your PC, the speaker doesn't show up. From time to time, buttons appear in the middle of the taskbar. Each button represents a window or programme you've put away or minimize, which we will cover in the next article on Windows.

You can point the mouse at the various items in the systems tray to get more information or to control them. Clicking on the items usually does something, depending on what and how you click on the time, and you can set the computer's clock.

The taskbar can float on any edge of the desktop; use your mouse to drag it to the top, left or right sides of the screen. (Point the mouse on a blank part of the taskbar to drag it). Most folks leave it on the bottom, which is where we assume it is.

Everything in Windows starts with the start button, conveniently located on the left side of the taskbar. The start button itself controls a pop-up menu (and sub-menu galore!), on which you'll find various commands and programmes. To pop up the start menu click on its button by using your mouse. If you'd rather use your keyboard, press the Ctrl+Esc key combination. This action is guaranteed to work, popping up the start button's menu even when you can't otherwise see the start button.

E-Mail: bhavani@bom6.vsnl.net.in.