Windows XP in a Nutshell

Organization of the Book

This book is divided into four parts.

Part I

This part of the book is designed to give you the lay of the land and to introduce the concepts used throughout the rest of the book. It consists of two chapters:

Chapter 1 gives a brief review of Windows XP, what’s new in this release, and where it fits into the grand scheme of things.

Chapter 2 covers the basics of using Windows, such as starting applications, manipulating files, and getting around the interface. If you’re familiar with any modern version of Windows, much of this is probably old hat.

Part II

This part of the book contains alphabetically organized references for each major element of Windows XP. Once you’re at a given point in the system, what can you do there?

Chapter 3 is a thorough examination of the elements that make up the Windows XP graphical user interface. In addition to the basics of windows, menus, buttons, listboxes, and scrollbars, you’ll learn about the new visual styles in Windows XP, how to make the most of the Taskbar, and how to use any component of Windows with only the keyboard.

Chapter 4 is the comprehensive reference that covers all the programs that come with Windows XP, those listed in the Start menu and Control Panel, and as those available only if you know where to look. For GUI-based applications, we don’t document every menu, button, and dialog box — the GUI is often self-evident. Instead, we focus on nonobvious features and provide helpful hints about power user ...