Power Point Presentations Basics that Soar

February 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

You’re up for the next Power Point Presentation. How can you make it stand out? How can you make it memorable?

These keys to a powerful Power Point Presentation will help:

  • Just starting out in Power Point? Keep it as simple as possible. Text and photos may be all that you need or want. Nerves escalate when we are suddenly a part of something new and different, so keeping it simple makes for calmer nerves. On your next presentation, add a bit more to your slides.
  • Even if you’re somewhat of a pro, don’t put too much (this includes words and animation) on your individual slides. This is not the time to show off, but to make your point.
  • Key concepts will always override lovely description, no matter how lovely it is. Stick to the point and allow the comments from your audience to fill in the lovely description of what they understand from your presentation.
  • Make sure everything is proofed; there is a big difference between the words “public” and “pubic” for example.
  • Font sizes should be between 28 and 34, with as bold a font as possible. Refrain from using a font that looks too “artistic” or “fun.”  You want your audience to be able to read your slides.
  • Contrast is good. If you use a dark font, use a light background and vice versa.
  • Don’t read word for word what is on your slides.
  • Make sure your slides are cohesive, that they flow easily from one to the next.

The better you prepare, the better your Power Point presentation. Use your Power Point presentation to assist you, not to take over your entire presentation—Power Point is not a crutch to use because you don’t really know your material.

Filed Under: Operating System, Windows Tagged With: , , ,

Troubleshooting your Operating System

February 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Whether you use Linux, Mac or Windows as your operating system, troubleshooting, to be fair, is not always an easy task, nor is it always one without considerable headache.

Where should you go for help?

  • Follow the instructions on your computer. If you get a pop-up telling you to do something, don’t ignore it.
  • Go to the official website. This should be a given, but it is amazing how many folks surfing the net for answers to their operating system questions try everyone else but the most obvious choice—first.
  • If the information isn’t readily available or easy to understand on the website, try a blog by someone who knows their stuff. These blogs are often run by the company in question anyway, and you often get a layman’s answer to your question rather than a souped up answer that only a techno geek can understand. Linexblog.com for example, has resources for newbies as well as hardware and software information, tutorials and Linux news.
  • Subscribe to a feed. Often, blogs will have feeds that you can subscribe to. By subscribing to a feed you get the latest and greatest information sent to your in box.
  • Learn before you need to know it. Take a tutorial on site or take a class in your community. Prepare yourself for the inevitable. There will come a time when the information you glean will need to be used—why not prepare ahead?
  • Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Many online sites have places to ask questions and get your answers. Don’t call unless you have to, but don’t be afraid to call. Professionals on the other end of the line are trained to answer your questions even if you don’t know or even understand all of the key terms relating to your operating system.

Troubleshooting your operating system doesn’t have to be a literal pain in the neck or even a life long (adventure) if you follow the guidelines above.

Filed Under: Operating System, Windows Tagged With: , , , , ,

Windows Basics you may not have Thought to Know

February 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

You may know the basics of searching the Internet, but do you know how to find people? About storing your digital photos, or playing a favorite game? Do you know how to instant message, or place your favorite picture on your desktop background?

No?

Then you’ll want to peruse some of these great Windows Basics:

  • Sure, you’ve searched for files, for printers; you’ve even searched the Internet generally, but search for people? By typing in the person’s name and where they live, you can begin with a great list. Put everything in quotation marks when you search, and you’re on your way! Internet Search services, widely available on the Internet can also help you locate that lost someone.
  • The My Picture Folder helps you to organize your pictures. Pictures from your digital camera are stored here. In the folder you can decide whether to print your picture, order additional prints from the Internet or other picture management tasks.
  • Tap into DirectX to play some games. DirectX will teach you all of the steps, from installing to troubleshooting.
  • Learn how to network the web through Windows XP. You may know how to email, but do you know how to instant message? Find out through the Windows XP tutorial at Microsoft.com.
  • Sure, you’ve used your computer multiple times, but how do you add on a new user, someone who has access to your files and computer programs? learn how to add a new user through the tutorial, “To add a new user to the computer” found at Microsoft.com.
  • Use your favorite picture as your desktop background. Once the picture is within My Picture Folder, it is easy enough to retrieve and place as your desktop background.
  • Get involved in a newsgroup. Interested in pottery or at-home business opportunities? The options to be a part of a newsgroup are as many and varied as the people who frequent the Internet.

Have fun trying some of these Windows basics—they might just spur you on to even greater fun.

Filed Under: Internet, Windows Tagged With: , , , ,

Windows Desktop Fun

February 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Windows XP introduced a new interface, along w...

Image via Wikipedia

What do you have to know to use Windows?

Quite a bit.

The good news is that you can learn as you go, taking in the bare minimum at first, and filtering in some fun and wacky stuff as you go along.

Here’s some fun to get you started:

  • Get ahold of a desktop background that you can be proud of. Choose from 14 category images including “Fireworks Display” and “Lovebirds” at Microsoft.com as well as new categories dealing with “Automotive,” “Nature” and more. Check back every month. A great selection of options offered by the How-To-Geek includes: cats, dogs, tigers, flowers and more. All Theme Packs are available at Microsoft.
  • Favorite themes for the desktop include: “Harry Potter,” Narnia: Dawn Treader” and “Best of Bing 5”.
  • Find a gadget such as a clock, a WeatherBug, or a “Super Search Bar” to add a bit of extra class to your desktop. Put together a slide show of your favorites. Or get your wallpaper to rotate using the Mozilla Firefox Wallpaper Rotator—for folks who prefer a bit of the dark side.
  • Get a Digital Photography Fun Pack for Windows XP. Get what you need to create greeting cards and title slides or get the Sci-Fi Icons Packs Series 2. A sample of “Borg-green” wallpaper can be found at How-to Geek.
  • Juice up your Folder Icons by using “130 Fund Desktop Folder Icons” found at: cnet.com.
  • Try some of the new enhancements such as, “ObjectDock 2.0,” “Fences” or “Winstep Nexus Dock.” Surround yourself with new widgets, drag and drop options, as well as styles and special effects for your desktop.

Because Windows is almost as common as, well, the microwave oven, it would be fair to say that many of us are looking to go beyond the basics of Windows use and to have some well-needed fun. Get started here with these great ideas; they will more than likely lead you to more.

Filed Under: Internet, Windows Tagged With: , , , ,

The Verdict Is In On Windows 7

December 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

It had been a long time since windows had received such a buzz for their operating systems. As a matter of fact the last operating system they released, the Windows Vista, was met with much backlash. This was a huge disappointment to Microsoft as they were riding high off the success of their XP operating system. Windows Vista got hammered for not being user friendly and not really making any improvements worth while off of the previous operating system. This left Microsoft scratching their heads. They had to come out with an operating system that will give them back their good name.

Enter Windows 7. This operating system is one of the best Microsoft has ever done. The best thing about the new operating system is they have moved most of their information into the task bar. For years, Windows had seemed to labor as if there was no real use for the task bar. This only created conflict about what to do with the task bar. These days the task bar has everything. It has an icon for the internet explorer as well as the Media Player and a setting for files down there. It’s goal was to transform everything into an organized work station. This, of course, makes the student and the small business owner equally happy as this makes working the computer a breeze.

What makes the task bar even better is there is a box that appears around the icon to let the user know that it is being run. This way if there are applications that can be eliminated to make the computer run faster then they will know which ones are running. It’s the most efficient improvement Windows has ever made and it’s the kind of improvement that is making people take notice and make Microsoft 7 their preferred browser.

Filed Under: Operating System, Windows Tagged With: , , , , ,

Windows 7 Makes System Tray Advancements

December 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

There are many people in the computer world that are still a buzz about the Windows 7 model. It’s a great system and for the first time in what seems to be a long time there are a number of advancements that were made because Microsoft was listening to their user base. These changes seem more geared to making the user happy by increasing the speed at which windows operates and it seems to be that they have made it more fun. One of the things they changed, and that they received wide spread criticism for, was there System tray.

The System tray has long been a sore spot for many of the previous windows version users. The tray was very dense and filled with applications and programs that no one seemed to need or want. It was just a way to clutter something that was better left uncluttered. There alerts weren’t any better either. The alerts, which were in the form of word balloons often came up for no reason to provide information that no user cared about. To say that it was unpopular was an understatement. Many in charge saw the need for the change and made it happen it a very good way.

Here’s what they did. Let’s say a user downloads a program and that program is set to have these useless balloons pop up and spout messages no one cares about, well now they simply can’t. These programs are now forbidden by Windows to do that. This makes for a much cleaner System tray. You can also manage what applets are in the system tray. If there is one in there that is shouting messages at you, you can simple go into the revamped action center and fix it. If you don’t want something in the system tray then you can simply remove it. Its the best improvement to their operating system in a long time.

Filed Under: Operating System, Windows Tagged With: , , ,

The Homegroup of Windows 7

December 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Windows 7, the latest client version in the Mi...
Image via Wikipedia

Windows 7 has taken the PC world by storm. It’s the first time in a long time that Microsoft has had an answer to the Mac Os, which is largely considered to be the best operating system on the market. For Window 7 it has been a chance to show they they belong with the big boys and they are making it interesting for Mac. One of the things that Microsoft has done to make Windows a giant in the market with the introduction of 7 was to start a home group.

Through the years houses are being equipped with more and more computers. There used to just be a family PC and now there are a whole cluster of computers from netbooks to laptops. The issue has been connecting these computers. A person who works on their laptop might also work on their pc and then transferring or viewing files is not always the easiest. In the situation of the Windows 7 they have created a home group. The purpose of this group is to allow users to share within other computers that are also on Windows 7. This is huge because it’s been a long time complaint of users who have tried to network their PC’s.

This is a boon to Windows as users can switch and allow access from one computer to the other. This makes reading files, pictures, and transferring documents easy to do and allows users to embrace the new Windows OS. This is also important because houses with multiple Mac’s are not nearly as common as houses with multiple PC’s.

These advancements to Windows 7 have made it one of the best operating systems on the market. With the money you can save versus buying an apple makes the case for the Windows 7 as the only choice for many people’s next computer.

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The Origins of Windows 7

December 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 21: A computer stor...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Windows 7 is the latest invention from the bright minds at Microsoft. It’s operating system has been a hit since it’s release and there are number of enhancements that make it one of the most popular operating systems in the company’s history. From a more user friendly features to a better toolbar, there are a lot of reasons to stand up and cheer for this great OS, but the journey to get to these new features and this much improved system has a lot more than just simple production. As a matter of fact, the Windows 7 has gone through some serious changes.

Everyone may remember the problems with the last OS which was the widely criticized Windows Vista. This came only after Windows XP which was considered to be a vast improvement over anything that Windows has done up to that point. After XP ,Windows had decided to do a version that looked much like 7 which was going to be called Blackcomb. The idea was that Blackcomb would be focused almost solely on searching and storing data. There would be a state of the art storage system. Then Windows decided to delay it and release a version called Longhorn. Longhorn had eventually absorbed some of the ideas that Blackcomb was going to have.

The issue then came when there operating systems were running amok with viruses. This caused Windows to stop production on anything that was more technically advanced and instead tried to focus on getting rid of the viruses. So they tabled the big changes and instead. Once they got back to Longhorn they had cut out a number of features that were intended for it. They released Windows Vista to start then then decided to release 7 as an upgrade in function, but only a slight upgrade in the design of it. Windows 7 has been a hit on the market and is one of the very best operating systems the company has ever released.

Filed Under: Operating System, Windows Tagged With: , , ,

The Problems With Windows Vista

December 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Windows 7 has taken the world by storm. There are people all over the country who are applauding the features and the functions of this brand new operating system. There are a number of people who were more than a little disappointed by the features and functions of windows last operating system: Windows Vista. It was a system that was three years into development and was trying to improve on what was the most successful system to date: the Windows XP operating system.

Vista, however, seemed to fall short. There wasn’t a large number of people who were happy with what they got and Microsoft received wide spread criticism for releasing a system that wasn’t at all ready for primetime. There gripes were many and were often justified.

One of biggest criticisms was that windows was partnering up with the outside world to make it’s goal the protection of copyrighted media. There were a lot of steps taken to make sure that users could copy cd’s that were copyright protected. This is a function that early Windows systems didn’t have to worry about. But now users were feeling that they Windows was sticking their noses into an issue that they shouldn’t concern themselves with.

Maybe the biggest problem was that they made the system requirements for Vista so large that it was hurting a lot of the people who wanted to purchase it. So many computers weren’t up to the capabilities that the computer required. This meant that purchasing Vista wasn’t an option, or it was going to be an issue. This caused people to stick with their existing XP model which didn’t have the problems that Vista had and didn’t need the upgrade that Vista did.

There are several other reasons why Vista wasn’t a popular computer operating system but these are just a couple of the major concerns. With Windows 7 on the market, you are likely to say goodbye to Vista forever.

Filed Under: Operating System, Windows Tagged With: , , , ,

Early History of Windows

December 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Microsoft is one of the world’s biggest computer technology companies and it’s fame and wealth is predicated on it’s operating system: Microsoft Windows. This operating system didn’t just do well in the market, it has been a big part of the advancement of computers and in getting computers into every home. Without it there would be a major stall in much of what we are seeing on laptops and pc’s all over the globe.

Windows didn’t start as the interface that everyone sees now. As a matter of fact, Windows used to be based off the DOS model. The first version of Windows, released in 1985 was the DOS. The early version of Microsoft Windows was probably much different than anyone would believe these days. There wasn’t many applications beyond clipboard and calculator. There wasn’t tiling boxes. Only one window could be open at a time. These were advanced at the time, but still so far from where they needed to be.

In 1987 the Microsoft Company released their second version of Windows. This version allowed for more keyboard shortcuts and it also allowed for the use of expanded computer memory. This made way for version 2.1 which had a much better grasp of the expanded memory.

These early versions were aimed at getting DOS out of the picture so that users could do all their computing right through windows. It’s ability to control and access the memory to run applications regardless of the available size and also to give an application more memory when the situation called for it.

When Microsoft released the 3.0 version it was the time when the operating system and the global recognizing began. There was an enormous buzz about it and it took the company to levels it hadn’t reached before. Windows continues to be a staple of the home and office computer and everyone remembers just how far it has really come.

Filed Under: Operating System, Windows Tagged With: , , ,
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