Welcome To The World of Computers

It's the twenty-first century, and computers are already integrated into nearly every thing we do. The television has computer chips in it, and so does the telephone. A tiny CPU keeps time and sends electrical pulses to the numbers on your alarm clock. But unless you plan to build alarm clocks and televisions, you really don't need to know how to program a microchip. You just want to know how to work a PC.

This book is written in mind of people who would like to use a computer running Windows software. Since Windows is the most common type of computer in the world (at about 95% of all computers), the skills you learn here will let you use nearly all the computers currently in use.

This book is guided toward the brand-new user who has never used a computer in his or her life. However, it can also be used as a guide towards new Windows users switching from other operating systems, or as a reference tool for experienced users. You start with learning all the parts of the computer and what they do. Next we move on to basic things, and then we get into word processing, spreadsheets, and using the Internet.

But first, you should learn how to use this book.

Finding What You Want

This book is divided into many chapters. Each chapter has about 4 sections. Each section has a name and a number. This is Chapter 1, Section 1, but can easily be referred to as Section 1-1.

Each section has headings dividing the section into smaller chunks. The heading for the chunk you are reading now is called "Finding What You Want." Under headings there may be smaller subheadings, dividing each chunk into smaller and smaller chunks.

Some words are in bold text. Bold, or boldface, is thicker than normal text. When a word is in bold, it is a term that will be defined somewhere in the nearby text. Terms are also found in the glossary in the back of this book.

Special Text

Throughout this book you will find various kinds of special text, enclosed in colored boxes, as shown below. The colored boxes alert you about the kind of special information contained in the box.

CAUTION
This alerts you to danger. It could damage your computer, disks, or data, or it might even damage you.

NOTE
This is simply a note, an addition to something. It sometimes drops useful hints to you. Many times it alerts you to a workaround to a problem that may or may not develop.

Using Hyperlinks

Periodically throughout this book, you will find a hyperlink, which, with a single click, makes you jump to a different page in the book. For example, clicking here will send you to the Welcome Page. After you click a link, it will typically change color from blue to purple.

In the left third of your screen, you'll see a table of contents. Unlike the table of contents on most books, however, this table of contents doesn't tell you what page to go to - it provides links for getting there. Simply click a link, and you will jump to whatever section you wish.

The top and bottom of each page contain a table containing four links - one to go to the previous and next sections, one to go to the Welcome page, and one to go to the beginning of the chapter.

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