lesson 4 moving and resizing windows

Lesson4

  Windowsallowsyoutoeasilyenlarge,hide,orshrinkawindowusingtheMinimize,Maximize,andRestorebuttons.

  TheMinimizebuttonisamongthethreebuttonsattherightendofthetitlebar.Thisbuttonhasasmalldash(orminussign).TheMinimizebuttonshrinksthewindowandplacesitonthetaskbarwhileleavingtheprogramrunning.

  TheMaximizebutton,whichlookslikeasmallwindow,isusedtoenlargeawindowtocovertheentiredesktop.

  Afterawindowismaximized,theMaximizebuttonchangestotheRestorebutton.Itlooksliketwowindowsnearoneanother.IfyouclicktheRestorebutton,themaximizedwindowshrinkstoitsprevioussize(thesizeitwasbeforeyoumaximizedit).

  Sizingwindowisslightlydifferentfromminimizing,restoring,ormaximizing.Note:Youcannotsizeawindowifit'sbeenmaximized.

  Hoverthemousepointeroveranycornerofthewindow.(Youcanalsoplacethepointeroverthebordersofthewindow.)

  Themousepointerchangesintoadouble‐headedarrow.

  Clickandholddowntheleftmousebutton.

  Dragthearrowoutorintomakethewindowlargerorsmaller.

  Releasethemousebuttonwhenthewindowisthesizeyouwant.

Makesurethemousepointerchangeintoatwo‐headedarrowbeforeyoutrytosizethewindow.

  Sometimesawindowmayobscureanitemyouwanttoclickonorv

  Placethemousepointeroverthetitlebar(atthetopofthewindow).

  Clickandholddowntheleftmousebutton.(YoucannotmoveawindowthathasbeenmaximizedotherthantousetheMinimizebutton.)

  Dragthewindowtotheplacewhereyouwantitandreleasethemousebutton

Sometimes,movingandsizingmultiplewindowscancreateconfusion.Tokeepbettertrackofmultiplewindows,trycascadingortilingthewindows.

  Cascadingwindowsarelayeredontopofeachother.

  Tiledwindowsarenexttoeachother.Windowscanbetiledhorizontallyorvertically.Ifwindowsaretiledhorizontally,theyappearoneaboveanother.Ifwindowsaretiledvertically,theyappearsidebyside.

  Withtwoormorewindowsopen,right‐clickonablankareaofthetaskbar.

  ChooseCascadeWindows,TileWindowsHorizontally,orTileWindowsVertically.

  Right‐clickonablankareaofthetaskbar.

  SelecttheUndocommand.

  Right‐clickonablankareaofthetaskbar.

  ChooseShowtheDesktop.

  WindowsXPallowsyoutohavemorethanoneprogramopenatthesametime.Italsoallowsyoutoeasilymovebetweenopenwindows.Thewindowyouselectbecomestheactivewindow.Whenawindowisactiveonthedesktop,itstitlebar(andbuttononthetaskbar)isblue.Whenawindowisinactive,thetitlebarislightblue.

  Openmorethanoneprogram.

  Sizethewindowssothey'reopenonthedesktop.

  Clickonanypartofthewindowyouwanttoworkwith.

  OR  Clicktheprogram

buttonsonthetaskbartoactivatethewindowyouwanttoworkwith.

  UnlikepreviousversionsofWindows,WindowsXPkeepsthetaskbarfromgettingtoocluttered.Itgroupsthebuttonswhentoomanyaccumulateonthetaskbar.Forexample,whenyouopenOutlookExpress,you'llseeonebuttononthetaskbar.However,ifyouhavethreeormoreemailmessagewindowsopen,onebuttonrepresentstheOutlookExpress'sopenwindows.

  Simplyclickthebuttontoselectfromthepop‐uplistofopenwindows.

  Whenyouhavemorethanonewindowopen,youcanalsoswitchbetweenthemusingthekeyboard.

  Openmorethanoneprogramorwindow.

  PressandholddowntheAltkeywhilepressingtheTabkey.

  Amenufeaturingfileandprogramiconsappears.

  Tabtothewindowyouwanttoview.Onceit'soutlinedwithabox,releasebothkeys.

  Practiceminimizing,maximizing,andrestoringwindows

  MoveawindowusingtheTitlebar

  Clickanddragtoresizeawindow

  Practicetilingandcascadingwindows

  Switchbetweenwindowsusingbothmethodsdescribedinthislesson.