Windows Lesson #2: Taking Control

• Menus. Click on the Settings menu item, then switch from Analog clock (round, with hours, minutes and second hands) to Digital clock (numbers written out), or vice versa. There is another way to access menu items, without using the mouse or removing your hand from the keyboard. Hold down the ALT key and then the underlined letter from the Settings menu item ("S" in this case). You should see the Settings menu drop down. Now press A for a round clock (see that the "A" in Analog is underlined) or D for a digital clock.
• Dragging a Window. Point your mouse at the name bar at the top of the Window. Click the Left right mouse button and hold it down--while holding it, move the mouse to the left or right. The clock window should move with it, but stay the same size.
• Minimize and Restore. On Win95, you will see 3 buttons in the upper right corner of your clock window. The left most is the Minimize thin line. Click this button and watch your clock disappear. You can see the "Clock" on the task bar at the bottom on your screen. Click on that part of the taskbar and watch your clock reappear. When you minimize it, the clock is still running, but is not visible on the screen. On Win3.1, you see only two buttons: a Minimize Down Arrow and an Up Arrow. Click the Down Arrow and your clock disappears, replaced by a tiny square "icon" (picture of the clock) at the bottom of the screen. Click on the icon and your clock reappears.
• Maximize and Restore. To the right of the minimize button, you will find a Maximize button (a box on Win95, an up arrow on Win3.1). Click this button and watch your clock fill the complete screen. The Maximize button changes into a Restore button (overlapping small boxes on Win95 , up and down arrows on Win3.1 ). Now Restore the clock to its normal size by pressing the Restore button.
• Resize. To make your clock bigger, put the mouse on one of the edges of the window. You should see your cursor change into a Double-Ended Arrow. Now click the left mouse button and drag the edge of the window left or right. The size of the window will change.
• The Escape key. Find the ESCAPE key on your keyboard. Now click on the Settings menu. Instead of changing your clock, cancel the menu by pressing Escape.
• Win95 X-kill. Windows 95 has a special X button in the upper right corner of each window. When you click this button it kills (exits, terminates, closes) that window. Warning: the Win95 kill button is in the same position as the maximize button on Win3.1, so you may close your programs by mistake.
• Scroll Bars. Extra credit. Which programs have a scroll bar? How do you use it to scroll slowly? To scroll quickly?