The real work of an operating system is to run software programs. Windows Vista comes with a wide variety of programs, and you can install additional (and often more powerful) ones. Most programs are listed on the Start menu, but Windows gives you several ways to start your programs so that you can choose the way you like best. The programs listed below are only some of the programs that come with Windows Vista. You’ll find descriptions of the others elsewhere in this book.
Click the Start button or press the Windows key, and choose a program from the Start menu.
Click the Start button or press the Windows key, type the first few letters of the program you want to run, and, after the search results on the Start menu show the program, press Enter or click the program.
Click the Start button, click All Programs, click any relevant folders to display or expand their content, and click the program you want.
Point to and then double-click the program icon on the Desktop.
Click Computer on the Start menu, navigate to the folder that contains the program you want, and double-click the program.
Click Documents on the Start menu, locate the document that’s associated with the program, and double-click the file.
Insert the disc or removable drive that contains a program that’s designed to run from the disc or drive, and choose to run the program.
Program | Purpose |
---|---|
Windows Contacts | Stores names, addresses, and other contact information. |
Calculator | Does arithmetic calculations and complex mathematical calculations. |
Character Map | Inserts special characters from installed fonts. |
Calendar | Shows dates and records appointments and tasks. |
Internet Explorer | Functions as a Web browser and an HTML document viewer. |
Photo Gallery | Organizes pictures and picture tasks. |
Notepad | Creates, edits, and displays text documents. |
Windows Mail | Provides e-mail, newsgroup, and directory services. |
Paint | Creates and edits bitmap pictures; imports and edits scanned images and digital pictures. |
Media Player | Plays sounds, music, and videos. |
Movie Maker | Converts, edits, organizes, and distributes video files. |
WordPad | Creates, edits, and displays text, Rich Text Format, and Word documents. |