What do You do on the Computer? (A look at Netbooks)

I admit it. I'm on my (or at least 'a') computer most of the day. It's my preferred location, reinforced by events such as today's "Adventures in Lawn Mowing" wherein our hero ended up with an angry, buzzing lawn. (Okay, so my youngest bother was actually doing the mowing, but, man, there were a low of hazard-striped flying things stirred up! My lawn currently has a mohawk until the lawn does some anger management.)

While on the computer, I do a great variety of things. MSWord is my favorite and most used program. I nearly always have a document (or three) in prgress and open on my computer. Novels, assignments, scripts, and other projects are some of the things I do. I admit that mainly, I type. Not too much fancy, in spite off all the nifty things Word can do. I totally underutilize this great program. (It's worse with Word2007!)

I also use Excel, PowerPoint, and Picture Manager at least once a week. I use Outlook daily. And Media Player regularly. And a couple other programs for specific purposes.

And of course, the Internet. I love the Internet. I love Google. And I have my list of favorite haunts, places to visit, things to read or enjoy. I could spend days on the internet.

The more I use my computer, the more likely I am to do things on the computer these days.

Now, one of the big issues with computers is what you do-- this relates to what sort of computer you need. My brothers play games on their computer and thus require machinea with some guts and go power. I collect parts and cobble together a machine from "outdated" parts too slow for my brothers' gaming needs. I need something that is fast enough to multitask since I never have less than three programs running. Something with space to store my projects. And good internet access.

One of the hot new trends is "netbooks" which are small laptop-type computers. They're usually pretty small in size and guts. If you're only using the computer for Internet, email, and the occaisional Office application, very well may be the most economical choice, rather than buying a regular computer or desktop. One of the things to make sure of is, if you type a lot, that the small sized keyboard is adequate. Nothing like a crappy keyboard...

Same as the Mac/PC debate, the most important factor is whether the computer does what you need it for. It's not worth the money, even if it's cheap, if the computer isn't used regularly.

Your Computer's Make and Model

I get requests to trouble-shoot MSWord from time to time. I'm always happy to help, but first we have to be on the same page. Preferably the same page in the same book...

So I ask what version of MSWord you are running. With the release of Word2007, it is imperative to know the version. Commands and instructions that are good for Word2007 are meaningless for Word2003, as well as other issues. No big deal-- I have both versions. I just need to know whether to give instruction set A or instruction set B.

You answer: "Vista."

Vista is a version of Windows.

Windows Vista runs your computer. Microsoft Word is what you type your document into. One's a plant and one's an animal. You wouldn't ride a tulip into town any more than you'd type a document with just Windows.

Your operating system maybe Windows. It will usualy say which version it is while booting, but you can also go to My Computer, right click and select Properties from the Menu. Hey, looky there, it tells you what version operating system you are running. And other neat details.







Okay, so, we still need to figure out what version of Word you have.
Method #1, find the Icon. Whatever you double-click to open the program. Does it say... Microsoft Word 2003?




Method #2: Open Word. Go to Help... About Microsoft Word. The top line will tell you what version you are running. My desktop has Word 2003.

So... what version of Word are you running? What operating system do you have? If you're going to get the right help, you need to ask for the right information. Luckily, the computer knows what it's using, and is happy to tell you.

Mac or PC?

I always thought those Mac and PC commercials, with the middle-aged boring guy as the PC and the young hip guy as the Mac, were pretty cute. Somewhat skewed, but so are all commercials.

Personally, I think whether a person picks a Mac or PC is kind of like picking your type of undergarment. It doesn't matter to most anyone else, but you sure better be comfortable with the choice.

I'm a PC. (No, I'm not going to tell you my underwear choice!) My biggest factor is price, and PCs tend to meet that need far better than Macs. I don't need processor power for much more than handing a large (very large!) MSWord document or maybe streaming a video. My current desktop computer is the Holiday Inn Express of computers-- it's not fancy, but it does the job rather well.

I've used Macs. The skies didn't open up for me. (In fact, I got tend to get frustrated because all the commands I'm used to are missing or moved. That problem is compounded because when I'm on a Mac, it's usually to troubleshoot an ill-intentioned device.) But I have nothing against the little cuties. ;-)

Some users have less trouble on Macs-- particularly with viruses. Fair enough. But the only virus I've gotten in the last ten years was from my stupid pirate brothers downloading a game crack that was infect. That reminds me-- I still haven't thanked them for that... To me, all computers are comparable. It's the user that is the biggest equation. What do YOU want from your computer.

I have more time than money, so I'll buy the cheap machine (or cobble parts from friends and family to make a Frankenputer ). Then I'll use my time to learn how to make sure it obeys. The occasional sacrifice of a goat or small animal to the computer gods doesn't hurt.

Getting Around

Your computer has files and folders. Depending on what sort of user you are, you may store everything in the My Documents folder. Or maybe, on your work computer, you save everything in the network folder.

There's more than one way to get around a computer's folders. And once you get that down, you'll have all sorts of new ways to save and sort things on your computer.

First, open up My Documents or My Computer. By default, the My Documents displays only the folder. The left side of the window gives you some options for the folder or the things in it. Great. Now, let's change the settings. If you've never played with this, it's going to look huge and scary and overwhelming at first. Relax, do as I tell you (heh, that's always good advice!) and it'll be okay.







On the top of the My Documents window, there's a button labeled Folders. (BTW: You are using Windows Explorer to view My Documents.) Click the Folder button. Now, the left side of your window will show ALLLL the folders and drives and everything on your computer.

Deep breaths. Lets look at the list-- what are we really seeing? Well, at the top is Desktop. As far as Windows Explorer is concerned, the Desktop is the root of everything. If you clock on "Desktop" you will see everything on your desktop, but as little icons inside the Explorer Window. See-- it's just a different way to see the same stuff.

Okay, what else do we have here. Under Desktop is My Documents. See the little plus sign next to it. Squint! Ah, there it is-- circled in red. This plus sign lets us Expand the folders. So, if you click it, the folders that are inside the My Documents folder will expand. You won't see any files on the left-- only folders (and drives, which are like giant folders.) Click the expand button.

(An expanded folder has the inner folders showing and a minus sign, circled in blue)

Notice how the view on the right didn't change? Why make the computer load all the images... this is one way Explorer is faster for getting around.

Now, you can see the folders. You can select a folder or another plus sign. When you get to the folder you want, you can select it by clicking on it once, and the contents will load in the right side of the screen.

You can nest folders almost limitlessly. And name them anything you want.

And, another bonus, if you need to go to another folder, you can simply click on it on the left. You don't have to go "Up" or "Back." Just find it and click. Quick and easy. Try it, click around. And if you think you've moved or clicked something wrong, you can always Undo.