CPS100 • INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS

Using a Computer

Back in the 1970's, if you wanted your computer to do something, you had only one option: type the command into the computer using the keyboard. While that is still possible by using the CLI ("Command Prompt" in Windows, "Terminal" in Mac OS X), most people use one of several other methods.

To perform a command on your computer, you can use these interface elements:

• Use a Menu (drop-down or pop-up)
• Use a Toolbar
• Use the Ribbon (Microsoft Windows)
• Use a Keyboard Shortcut
• Use a Voice Command

For example, let's say that you want to open a new document in a program. You could (1) go to the "File" menu in the menu bar or (2) the "File" tab in the Ribbon, and click on "Open..."; you could (3) click on the button in the toolbar with the picture of a folder on it; you could (4) type "Control + O" ("Command + O" on a Mac); or, if you have voice control activated, you could speak the command.

Almost all commands can be performed by menus. The other methods often allow access to the most common or useful commands, but they rarely give access to all commands.

A menu is the oldest way to do something on a GUI. Usually, menus include the File, Edit, and View menus, but the rest are different depending on the program you are using.

Note the illustration at right. In a menu, if you see a check mark or other notation to the left of an item, that usually means there is a list, and the bulleted point is the item which is selectedor turned on. It works as a toggle, so selecting the menu item will turn it on or off, depending on its state.

You can also see small arrows to the right of some menu items; click or mouse over one of these, and a submenu appears, as you can see in the image at right, which shows the "Go To" submenu. Additionally, some items are followed by three dots (an 'ellipsis'); this means that if you choose the item, a dialog box with options will appear.

In Windows, there is a menu bar in every separate window. Note that in Windows Vista and Windows 7, the menu bar is often missing or hidden; it often must be turned on using some option in a toolbar or icon menu. On the Mac, there is one menu bar at the top of the screen, and it changes depending on which program you are using at the moment.

Each menu has its own category of commands. For example, the File menu has commands which are related to files, such as open file, save file, print file, etc.

Although each menu represents a different category of commands, these categories are sometimes different depending on the program. For example, some programs have the “Settings” or “Preferences” command in the “Tools” menu, while other programs have it in the “Edit” menu.

On the Mac, there is a completely different menu-the Application menu, which always has the name of the program you are using. This menu allows you to open preferences, hide the program, or quit the program.

The menus we have seen so far are called “drop down” menus, because they drop down when you click on the menu in the menu bar. Notice that many of the commands show a keyboard shortcut for the same command; some menus also have small icons, which are the same as the icons used in toolbar buttons.

Another type of menu is called the “pop-up” or “contextual” menu. It appears when you right-click the mouse (see image at right) or perform an equivalent action (e.g., a two-finger tap on a trackpad).

This menu is always different when you click for it in different areas. Right-click on the desktop, this menu appears. Right-click on the task bar, and a different menu appears. Right-click on a title bar and still another different menu appears. In other words, the menu changes according to the context of the right-click--therefore, the name "contextual menu."

These menus will always show the most useful commands for whatever you clicked on.

Since Microsoft Office 2007, menus in Microsoft software have often been replaced by the Ribbon.

Toolbars

Toolbars usually appear at the top of a window, but they might appear almost anywhere. A toolbar is a bar with buttons on it. The buttons usually are pictures; sometimes there are pictures with text below them, and sometimes (although rarely) they are text without pictures. Sometimes the toolbars are fixed in place, and sometimes they can be moved. Sometimes you can edit the toolbar, and change the buttons or its style.

Another kind of toolbar is called a “palette” (pictured at right). These are used mostly in programs. They look like a mini-window, and are floating (it is not attached to any stationary part of the window). Sometimes a palette is called an “inspector.”

The Ribbon

Both menus and toolbars have advantages and disadvantages. Menus are compact, taking up little screen space; however, they are difficult to read. Users often have difficulty finding a command in a maze of menus. Toolbars are the opposite: they take up too much space on the screen, but they make it much easier to find the commands you want.

Beginning with Office 2007 and Windows Vista, Microsoft added a new control interface: the Ribbon. It is kind of a combination or compromise between a menu and a toolbar, combining the best features of each.

The tabs in a ribbon are like the names of menus in a menu bar; however, instead of a text-only menu dropping down, you get a large toolbar.

This way, you get the compact form of a menu bar, but also the ease-of-use of a toolbar. Ribbons can be made even smaller by double-clicking on the tabs; this temporarily hides the toolbar area of the ribbon until you hover your mouse over a tab. The ribbon can be expanded by double-clicking a tab again.

At first, the Ribbon could not be customized; instead, users would have to set up the Quick Access Toolbar. Starting with Office 2010 in Windows 7, you could create your own Ribbon tabs and set them up any way you please.

Keyboard shortcuts can be the quickest way to perform commands. They can take a while to memorize and practice, but after you become fluent with them, you can do a variety of actions with much greater speed.

One-Key Shortcuts

Many shortcuts can be achieved by pressing only one key. They include:

Key	Windows	Mac
	Windows/Start key: opens/closes the Start Menu	n/a (there is no Start Menu or Smart Menu key on a Mac)
	Escape key: cancel (close menus, dialogs, etc.)
	Print Screen: copies an image of your screen to the Clipboard, so you can paste it into a document	n/a (requires 3-key shortcut)
	F (Function) keys: special functions

The F-Keys each have different functions. Some are universal (the same function everywhere), though some are specific to certain programs or situations. Often, F-Keys are "programmable," which means you can change what they do in a program. Here are some of the more common uses for F-Keys in many programs on the Windows operating system.

On a Mac, the F-keys are customizable:

1. Open System Preferences
2. Click on "Keyboard"
3. Click on "Shortcuts"
4. Select category on left (e.g., "Screenshots")
5. Click on the shortcut shown, and type in the new shortcut

On the Mac, you can also assign a keyboard shortcut to any app that has that command in a menu. In the above process, on #4, click on "App Shortcuts," click the "+" button below the box, and then in the dialog, choose an app, type the name of the command, and then enter the keyboard shortcut.

In Windows, the shortcut keys can also be programmed in various apps, but by default, the following keys can be used for:

The "F1" key is so commonly associated with the "Help" function, that this cartoon about a computer programmer drowning is popularly understood:

Two-Key Shortcuts in Windows

These are the most common types. You begin by holding down one of the special shortcut keys in Windows:

The Control, Alt, or Windows/Start keys;

Then, you press any letter key in addition, then let go of both keys. For example:

+     This combination will "Select All" ("A" for "All") of whatever you are selecting. Or:

+     This combination will close a window and/or quit the program. Or:

+     This combination will open a File & Folder window.

Here are some common two-key shortcuts in Windows (many more can be found here):

Two-Key Shortcuts in Mac OS

These are the most common types. You begin by holding down one of the special shortcut keys in Mac OS:

The Control, Alt, or Command keys;

Then, you press any letter key in addition, then let go of both keys. For example:

+     This combination will Quit any program that is currently focused on. Or:

+     This combination will Delete the word before the cursor. Or:

+     This combination will shift the computer's focus to a different app or window in an app.

All of the "Control" commands in blue for Windows are true for Mac as well, but with the Command key instead of the Control key. Commands beginning with the Control and Option key are used far less often. Usually, the Control and Option key are additional command keys.

Some unique keyboard shortcuts in Mac OS (many more can be found here):

Three- or Four-Key Shortcuts

It is possible to combine several of the shortcut keys in order to get more and more complex commands. Keys that can be added to the basic keys include:

Some common 3-key shortcuts on Windows include:

The Mac also has some unique and useful multi-key shortcuts:

Text Navigation

Of course, everyone knows that using the arrow keys allows you to move the cursor in text either up or down a line at a time, or left and right one character at a time.

However, there are some extremely useful keyborad shortcuts to move the cursor within the text in addition to just arrow kets:

You can substitute up & down arrows in the above key combos for different selection effects.

The Mac Keyboard

Keyboards for Mac computers are slightly different than Windows keyboards. For example, the shortcut keys are different:

Notice that on the Mac keyboard, the "Alt" key is named the "Option" key," and the Windows key is replaced by the "Apple" ("Command") key.

On Windows, the CONTROL key is the main shortcut key, but on the Mac, the COMMAND (Apple) key is the main key. Therefore, when using the Mac, you should type "COMMAND + A" to "Select All," instead of "CONTROL + A."

On the Mac, the Option key is the same as the Alt key in Windows; the CONTROL key on the Mac is just an additional (third) shortcut key.

On the Mac, the ESCAPE and F-Keys are the same as on Windows. However, there is no PRINT SCREEN key. On the Mac, there are several special keyboard shortcuts to save screen images:

	Takes picture of whole screen, saves as an image file on the desktop
	Takes picture of whole screen, saves as an image in the clipboard
	Lets you select an area to capture the image, saves as an image file on the desktop
	Lets you select an area to capture the image, saves as an image in the clipboard

Most keyboard shortcuts are the same between the two systems, however; you just have to remember to use the COMMAND key instead of the CONTROL key when you use a Mac.