WINDOWS 1002000 PROFESSIONAL RESOURCE KIT [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Overview of Desktop Customization and Configuration

You can customize various aspects of the desktop—such as toolbars, shortcuts, wallpaper, Active Desktop, and screen savers—to meet a workgroup's specific needs. By effectively managing elements such as Favorites, shortcuts, network connections, and Active Desktop items, you can ensure that the most current information gets to the people who need it most.

You can use desktop customization to:

Enforce standards within your organization.

Limit the ability of users to access and modify operating system settings.

Increase productivity by providing quick access to frequently used programs, files, and intranet sites.

Allow the preferences and settings of workgroup members to be in effect on any computer they use.

Create a similar user interface across your workgroup to reduce training and support expenses.

Several new Windows 2000 Professional features can increase productivity for both users and administrators.

As discussed in "Introduction to Configuration and Management" in this book, Microsoft® Windows® 2000 implements Group Policy as a replacement for System Policy. Even if you don't have a Windows 2000 Server network, you can use Group Policy settings on local computers to manage desktops in your organization.

Windows 98 and Windows NT Workstation version 4.0 users will notice some features have moved to new locations in Windows 2000. For a comprehensive, alphabetical list of components and their new locations, see Windows 2000 Professional Help.

The following list describes desktop features new to both Windows 98 and Windows NT Workstation users.

Accessibility options Enhancements include new wizard, magnifier, narrator, and on-screen keyboard.

Expanded menus The contents of Control Panel, My Documents, Network and Dial-Up Connections, and Printers are automatically displayed as submenus from the Start menu.

Help improvements Help is a separate window that now includes common tasks, troubleshooter topics, and Favorites.

Indexing service Allows context-sensitive searches on local drive and network resources.

Keyboard underscores hidden Keyboard shortcuts on menus are hidden by default.

Personalized menus Infrequently used items on the Programs menu are hidden. Allow the mouse pointer to pause on the double arrows at the bottom of the menu to reveal hidden items.

The following list describes desktop features new to Windows NT Workstation users only.

Active Desktop HTML elements can now be displayed on the desktop. (This feature is not new for Windows NT Workstation users who also run Microsoft® Internet Explorer 4.0 or later.)

Administrative Tools hidden by default You can access Administrative Tools in Control Panel, or, to display Administrative Tools on the Programs menu, right-click the taskbar, click Properties, click the Advanced tab, and then select the Display Administrative Tools check box.

Favorites folder available on Start menu You can choose to display the Favorites folder on the Start menu, providing fast, easy access to printers, Web sites, documents, folders, and other computers on the network.

My Documents folder now on Desktop Shortcut to My Documents now appears on the desktop above My Computer.

Quick Launch bar Easily access files, folders, and programs from the Quick Launch bar. You can add frequently accessed items and remove infrequently accessed items.

Show Desktop icon Click this icon on the Quick Launch bar to quickly minimize all open windows.

Taskbar and toolbars Create and modify toolbars for quick access to frequently used Web sites and programs. Modify the taskbar by adding and removing elements to suit your needs.

Customizing the Windows 2000 Professional Desktop

Whether you use Windows 2000 Professional at home, in a small to medium-size business, or in a worldwide enterprise organization, you can benefit from the features that provide the ability to customize the desktop user interface.

Use the Quick Guide to find the topics you need, from learning how to define standards to configuring or controlling use of the Active Desktop. Within this chapter you'll find all the information you need to perform advanced customization techniques, including a list of Group Policy settings that affect each type of desktop feature. For comprehensive listings of related documentation, see "Related Information in the Windows 2000 Professional Resource Kit" and "Related Information in the Windows 2000 Server Resource Kit" earlier in the chapter and "Additional Resources" at the end of the chapter.

NOTE

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Many organizations want to create custom configurations of their Internet and intranet browser software. For more information about customizing and managing Microsoft® Internet Explorer 5, see the Microsoft® Internet Explorer Administration Kit link on the Web Resources page at http://windows.microsoft.com/windows2000/reskit/webresources.

Windows 2000 includes a Group Policy snap-in to configure and manage Internet Explorer 5, called Internet Explorer Maintenance.