Great Idea – Computer “Desktop
What’s on your Computer Desktop?
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Browser and Email reader
Office tools
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Microsoft Office or some other product
Adobe Reader
Games
Media manipulators
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Music, iTunes
Movies, Quicktime
Photos
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner

Great Idea – Computer “Desktop
What’s on your Computer Desktop?
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“Business” Software
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Quicken
Turbo Tax
Security software
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Symantec Antivirus
“firewall” protection
Course specific software
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Karel the Robot
Recycle Bin
File storage
Todo list
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner

What do you use your computer for?
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Communication
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Email
Virtual communities, facebook, myspace
E-newsletters, blogs
Social calendar
Virtual retail therapy
Entertainment
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Games
Movies
TV
Art
Writing of all kinds
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Notes, letters, papers, etc.
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner

Great Idea – Computer “Desktop
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Household record keeping
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On-line banking
Bills
Tax information
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General business correspondence
Source of news and information
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner

What is the computer “desktop”?
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Metaphor
or a reflection of something in the physical world. Your computer “desktop” was supposed to reflect or perhaps substitute for the physical desktop you have at home or in your dorm.
To create this reflection, the computer uses a multimedia graphical user interface to create a way for you to interact with your machine.
This graphical interface is a software tool developed so that you can communicate through an operating system with your computer.
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner

What is the computer “desktop”?
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1.
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3.
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner

What is the computer “desktop”?
Great Idea: “Desktop”
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Let’s explore the desktop first.
It is a virtual world, created by a program, on your monitor.
It is a collection of images that represent different tasks.
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Little pictures, Icons , that represent these tasks
Folders
We have learned to give meaning to these images
The idea, which came about with the original
Macintosh in 1984 was to recreate on your monitor your desk at home.
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner

What is the computer “desktop”?
My physical desk at home really does have a rather remarkable resemblance to my computer desktop only my computer desktop is neater.
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Paper piles
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Some in file folders, some in boxes, some on the desk, some on the floor, some actually filed
Books
Calculator
Rubber-bands, sticky notes, paper-clips, eye drops, cancy
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner

What is the computer “desktop”?
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Computer “desktop” was envisioned to simplify our world.
It was thought that the computer would replace all the stuff on our desks and we would somehow move into a paperless world were all our information was stored simply, efficiently and painlessly in our virtual world.
The computer HAS altered our physical desktop world, but it has certainly NOT eliminated it.
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner

What is the computer “desktop”?
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner

What is the computer “desktop”?
My computer desktop does help me
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Find my stuff, sometimes
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Make filing easier, sort of
Make typing easier, especially spelling
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Has altered the way I do things
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Household business
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Communication
Is it a help? I’m not sure!
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner

What is the computer “desktop”?
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Our virtual desktop is a complex program that manages the way people interact with computers. It’s not magic. It’s just a program.
Operating System
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All general purpose computers have operating systems
Supercomputers iPhone
Operating Systems have names
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Windows
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Mac OS X
Linux
Unix
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner

What is the computer “desktop”?
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/o/operating_system.html
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner

What is the computer “desktop”?
Great Idea: Operating System
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The program that that lets your computer communicate with you and with all the other software that runs on your machine.
“Performs basic tasks
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 recognizing input from the keyboard, sending output to the display screen, keeping track of files and directory on the disk, controlling the peripheral devices such as disk drives and printers.”
It manages wireless operations and controls all software
Coordinates operations so that programs running at the same time seem to have total access to the machine and not “bump” into each other
It manages resources
Coordinates between users on multiuser systems http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/o/operating_system.html
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner

What is the computer “desktop”?
Look and Feel of a Desktop – what we call Windows
A little history –
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First personal computer designed to be used by
“ordinary” folks was the Apple II released in 1977
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It sold very well because it was bundled with a program called VisiCalc the first ever electronic spreadsheet
Did not have a “desktop”
“Command” line operation
Black screen, white letters
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner

What is the computer “desktop”?
Apple II http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_II
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner

What is the computer “desktop”?
Macintosh
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The first computer to have the “look and feel” of current systems was the Macintosh
The computer for the rest of us!
Screen had icons to represent tasks
Black characters on white background
Designed for ease of use http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner

What is the computer “desktop”?
Great Idea: Graphical User Interface
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The user interactive portion of the operating system that lets uses images, color and mouse clicks to make interacting with a computer more “user friendly.”
Multimedia
Combines text, graphics, images, sound to make interacting easier
Tries to map virtual onto physical, easy to use
Copyright © 2008 by Helene G. Kershner