Working with Microsoft Windows Environment

The Windows environment is the onscreen work area provided by Windows, analogous to a physical desktop, and the operating system's core extension points.

Desktop

The desktop is the user's work area for their programs. It's not a way to promote awareness of your program or its brand. Don't abuse it!

The desktop is the onscreen work area provided by Microsoft Windows, analogous to a physical desktop. It consists of a work area and taskbar. The work area may span multiple monitors, read more

Taskbar

The taskbar is the access point for programs displayed on the desktop. With the new Windows taskbar features,

Ms Office Word

Introduction to Microsoft Word

Microsoft Office Word 2010 allows you to create and edit personal and business documents, such as letters, reports, invoices, emails and books.
By default, documents saved in Word 2010 are saved with the .docx extension. Microsoft Word can be used for the following purposes:

• To create business documents having various graphics including pictures, charts, and diagrams.
• To store and reuse ready-made content and formatted elements such as cover pages and sidebars.
• To create letters and letterheads for personal and business purpose.
• To design different documents such as resumes or invitation cards etc.
• To create a range of correspondence from a simple office memo to legal copies and reference documents.

Installing OS

Installation of Windows

Installing Using a Windows installation DVD

Clean Install

A clean install is intended for users who want to freshly install Windows on their computer (by deleting all of the data on the hard disk and then installing Windows) or computers that do not have an operating system yet

1. Enter your computer's BIOS. Turn off the computer that you want to install Windows on then turn it back on. When the BIOS screen appears or you are prompted to do so, press Del, Esc, F2, F10, or F9 (depending on your computer’s motherboard) to enter the system BIOS. The key to enter the BIOS is usually shown on the screen.

Computer Impacts and Applications

Everyone knows that this is the age of computer and vast majority of people are using computer. Development of science and technology has direct effect on our daily life as well as in our social life. Computer technology has made communication possible from one part of the world to the other in seconds. They can see the transactions in one part of the world while staying in the other part. Computer development is one of the greatest scientific achievements of the twentieth century.

Application of Computer

Computers play a great role in the society. Whether at home, in school, at the mall or in the

office, computers significantly help in the accomplishment of various tasks.

DOS Operation

Before knowing the operations of DOS, we must know what DOS is. DOS stands for disk operating system. The term DOS can refer to any operating system, but it is most often used as a shorthand for MS-DOS (Microsoft disk operating system).
Originally developed by Microsoft for IBM, MS-DOS was the standard operating system for IBM-compatible personal computers.

OS, Types of OS, Functions of OS and Utility Software

Operating System Concept

What is an operating system?
A number of definitions of operating system abound. A basic definition could be that it’s a program that lets you run other programs.The other programs are called applications or application programs.
The application programs make use of the operating system by making requests for services through a defined application program interface (API). In addition, users can interact directly with the operating system through a user interface such as a command line or a graphical user interface (GUI).
An operating system is basically a intermediary agent between the user and the computer’s resources (CPU (process scheduling), memory (memory management), display, keyboard, mouse (device drivers), persistent storage (file systems), and the network). 

Types of Computer

 Types of Computer

Since the advent of the first computer different types and sizes of computers are offering different services. Computers can be as big as occupying a large building and as small as a laptop or a micro controller in mobile & embedded systems.

Computer are classified in two categories which are Based on Technology and Based on Performance and Capacity.


There are three different types of computers based on Technology. Those three types of computers are :


    Analog Computers
    Digital Computers
    Hybrid Computers


Analog Computers

Analog Computer is a computing device that works on continuous range of values. The results given by the analog computers will only be approximate since they deal with quantities that vary continuously
Digital Computers

On the other hand a digital computer operates on digital data such as numbers. It uses binary number system in which there are only two digits 0 and 1. Each one is called a bit.
Hybrid Computers

A hybrid computer combines the desirable features of analog and digital

computers. It is mostly used for automatic operations of complicated physical


processes and machines.

The four basic types of computers are as under based on Performance and Capacity

    Supercomputer
    Mainframe Computer
    Minicomputer
    Microcomputer


Supercomputer

The most powerful computers in terms of performance and data processing are the Supercomputers. These are specialized and task specific computers used by large organizations. These computers are used for research and exploration purposes, like NASA uses supercomputers for launching space shuttles, controlling them and for space exploration purpose.

The supercomputers are very expensive and very large in size. It can be accommodated in large air-conditioned rooms; some super computers can span an entire building.
Uses of a Supercomputer

In Pakistan Supercomputers are used by Educational Institutes like NUST for research purposes. Pakistan Atomic Energy commission & Heavy Industry Taxila uses supercomputers for Research purposes.

Space Exploration

Supercomputers are used to study the origin of the universe, the dark-matters. For these studies scientist use IBM’s powerful supercomputer “Roadrunner” at National Laboratory Los Alamos.

Earthquake studies

Supercomputers are used to study the Earthquakes phenomenon. Besides that supercomputers are used for natural resources exploration, like natural gas, petroleum, coal, etc.

Weather Forecasting

Supercomputers are used for weather forecasting, and to study the nature and extent of Hurricanes, Rainfalls, windstorms, etc.

Nuclear weapons testing

Supercomputers are used to run weapon simulation that can test the Range, accuracy & impact of Nuclear weapons. 
Popular Supercomputers

    IBM’s Sequoia, in United States
    Fujitsu’s K Computer in Japan
    IBM’s Mira in United States
    IBM’s SuperMUC in Germany
    NUDT Tianhe-1A in China

Mainframe computer

Although Mainframes are not as powerful as supercomputers, but certainly they are quite expensive nonetheless, and many large firms & government organizations uses Mainframes to run their business operations. The Mainframe computers can be accommodated in large air-conditioned rooms because of its size. Super-computers are the fastest computers with large data storage capacity, Mainframes can also process & store large amount of data. Banks educational institutions & insurance companies use mainframe computers to store data about their customers, students & insurance policy holders.

Popular Mainframe computers

    Fujitsu’s ICL VME
    Hitachi’s Z800


Minicomputer

Minicomputers are used by small businesses & firms. Minicomputers are also called as “Midrange Computers”. These are small machines and can be accommodated on a disk with not as processing and data storage capabilities as super-computers & Mainframes. These computers are not designed for a single user. Individual departments of a large company or organizations use Mini-computers for specific purposes. For example, a production department can use Mini-computers for monitoring certain production process.

Popular Minicomputers

    K-202
    Texas Instrument TI-990
    SDS-92
    IBM Midrange computers


Microcomputer

Desktop computers, laptops, personal digital assistant (PDA), tablets & smartphones are all types of microcomputers. The micro-computers are widely used & the fastest growing computers. These computers are the cheapest among the other three types of computers. The Micro-computers are specially designed for general usage like entertainment, education and work purposes. Well known manufacturers of Micro-computer are Dell, Apple, Samsung, Sony & Toshiba.

Desktop computers, Gaming consoles, Sound & Navigation system of a car, Netbooks, Notebooks, PDA’s, Tablet PC’s, Smartphones, Calculators are all type of Microcomputers.

Linux and its Basic Operations

What is Linux?

Just like Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Mac OS X, Linux is an operating system. An operating system is software that manages all of the hardware resources associated with your desktop or laptop.

Ms Office Excel

Ms Office Excel

Introduction to Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel is a commercial spreadsheet application, written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. At the time of writing this tutorial the Microsoft excel version was 2010 for Microsoft Windows and 2011 for Mac OS X.