What do you see?

The intent of this book is to provide a very “hands-on” guide. Rather than trying to pick up in the middle of things, where your screen might display almost anything, I will start with turning on the computer. In a typical installation, Windows 3.1 comes up showing the Program Manager.

The Windows 3.1 desktop is what you see when there are no other operations open to overlay it, just as you can see your own desktop when it isn’t piled high with papers and other important things. Windows allows “wallpaper” patterns on desktops; I prefer none. The Program Manager view above was actually on an otherwise blank desktop. The tiny pictures with titles are icons, the stock in trade of a Graphic User Interface (GUI.) Each represents something the computer can do for you.