The Windows Desktop

This section describes the Windows desktop (basically, what you see on the screen when you log on to your computer), and the various parts of it. While this may seem obvious, there are many people who don't fully understand it, so it's a good place to begin.

You can navigate through this section using the "Next Page" and "Previous Page" buttons at the bottom of each page, or use the menu on the left-hand side of the page to go directly to a specific section.

The pictures in this section are from a computer running Windows Vista Home Premium, but Windows XP and other versions of Windows Vista (such as Home Basic) are very similar.

The desktop is composed of a number of different areas, each with a different purpose, which are identified in the following picture, and then explained in more detail in subsequent sections.

Shows the Windows desktop.

Red: The Wallpaper (Desktop Background). This is used for decoration, and can be customized.

Green: Desktop Shortcuts. These shortcuts allow quick and easy access to programs, files and folders.

Yellow: The Taskbar. This is made up of a number of different parts, which are identified in the following section.

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The Taskbar