CertiGuide to A+ (Operating Systems)  9  Chapter 0000:  How to Get There

Pop Quiz 0000.00 1 Mouse Clicks

Our primary focus in this chapter will be on navigating around the most common GUI interface, referred to as a Window.

Windows or rectangles of information display areas, open up in the Windows family of Operating Systems, when we are accessing information or even when we receive an error message. We need to understand how to resize, open, close, and move these windows to increase our functionality and navigational ability in the Windows Operating Systems.

At the upper right hand corner of every window, you will see three small squares, called buttons, which always appear in the same order, as shown in Figure 7.

The 3 small squares are navigational keys to managing a window. If you lose track of which button does what, you can always move your mouse pointer over each button, and hold it there for a few seconds. This will cause windows to display a Tool Tip describing that button’s function, to jog your memory.

The square with the small horizontal line is used to minimize a window, temporarily removing it from the main desktop, but leaving it accessible via the tool bar at the bottom of the screen. (Minimize appears). The square with two overlapping squares is used to restore a window to its original size and position. (Restore appears). The large square is used to maximize a window, making it take up the full screen (Maximize appears). The “X” square is used to close a window, which ends the program. (Close appears).

Looking very closely at the screen shots above, you can see that the middle button sometimes displays a picture of a single square, for the maximize action, and sometimes a picture of two squares, for the restore action. Why did Microsoft use the same buttons for two different actions? Because if a window is already maximized, taking up the full screen, it doesn’t make sense to maximize it again… but it does make sense to restore it to its smaller size. And if a window is already small, taking up only part of the screen, restoring it to the same size and position doesn’t make sense… but enlarging it to full-screen with the maximize function does.

There can be many windows open at the same time. We will show you how as we get further along. First we need to understand how to navigate Windows with the keyboard and mouse.

Pop Quiz 0000.00 1 Mouse Clicks