Windows XP [Electronic resources] : Visual Quickstart Guide, Second Edition

Whats New in Windows XP

If youre familiar with earlier versions of Windows, the following new XP features are the ones that youll find notable.

Interface

Windows XPs updated user interface includes a redesigned Start menu and Control Panel, as well as cosmetic changes.

Cleaner desktop. The default desktop is austere ( Figure i.2 ). You can add other icons or run Desktop Cleanup Wizard to remove rarely used ones.

Figure i.2. The Recycle Bin keeps a lonely vigil on the default desktop. If you upgraded to XP, your desktop retained its old personality. On a new PC, the manufacturer may have changed the background and scattered extra icons.

Chapter 2.

Figure i.3. The new Start menu centralizes commands in two columns, not one.

Uncluttered taskbar. The Windows XP taskbar is dynamic. An overflow of buttons is redistributed to hidden rows, which can be scrolled. If you have several documents open in the same program, button grouping lets you control all the documents with one menulike button. Icons in the system tray, now called the

notification area, hide themselves if you havent used them recently, preventing the tray from becoming comically crowded. See Chapter 2.

Simplified theme selection. You can customize Windows XPs look by using

themes style-coordinated groups of controls and backgrounds. Like before, you can download new themes and change individual elements such as colors, and save the edited theme under a new name.

Categorized Control Panel. Control Panel presents a new category view ( Figure i.4 ) that groups control utility programs by what they do. This view reduces clutter but makes you click through an extra layer to get where youre going. Veterans can choose classic view to display all the programs individually.

Figure i.4. Control Panels new Category view groups items by function. See "Using Control Panel" in Chapter 4.

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Visual effects. Windows XPs graphical user interface adds animation, shadows, fades, slides, translucence, and other effects. You can turn these effects off if they distract you or slow your computer.

Relive the past. Windows XP has vivid icons, windows, buttons, and colors, but you can restore the less fashionable look of Windows 2000/98/Me ( Figure i.5 ).

Figure i.5. Feeling nostalgic? Revert to the classic Windows interface. See "Restoring the Old Windows Look" in Chapter 4.

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