Introduction to Windows Vista
Windows
Vista is a radical departure from the Windows versions of yesteryear. Whether
you're a beginner or an experienced Windows user, you won't want to miss out on
everything this powerful new version has to offer. In this course, specifically
designed for beginners and casual users, you'll learn to use Vista's best and
most important features.
You'll discover techniques for personalizing Vista to your own needs and
preferences, set up user accounts and enforce parental controls, keep your
computer secure from Internet threats, browse the World Wide Web, manage your
e-mail, and keep your names and addresses organized in the new Contacts folder.
You'll also learn to take full advantage of the new Calendar feature, manage and
edit your digital photos with the new Windows Photo Gallery, and add fonts,
color, and style to your written text.
To enroll in this course, click the Enroll Now button below:
Requirements:
Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise edition. Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins. Internet access; e-mail; and the and the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser. Experience with other versions of Windows is not required. Note: This course is not suitable for Macintosh users.
Syllabus:
All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two
lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do
not have to be present when the lesson is released, but you must complete each
lesson within two weeks of its release.
A new section of each course starts on the second or third Wednesday of each
month. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space
the start date for each course at least two months apart.
| Week One |
| Wednesday - Lesson 01 |
| Struggling with that new Windows Vista computer?
Baffled by all the icons, buttons, and terminology facing you? In our
first lesson, I'll help you get on track by explaining what's going on
and what all the buzzwords means. You'll learn what's on your desktop,
how to use the programs on your computer, and how to properly shut down
your computer (or put it in sleep mode for faster restart) at the end of
the day. |
| Friday - Lesson 02 |
| In this lesson, you'll learn to personalize your
computer—to make things look and work the way you want. Are things too
small to see? Make them bigger! Don't like that background picture?
Change it! Don't see the programs you like best on your Start menu? Put
them on! By the time you finish this lesson, your screen will look the
way you want it to look. |
| Week Two |
| Wednesday - Lesson 03 |
| In today's lesson, we'll continue our general theme
of how to make Vista work your way. You'll learn how to use gadgets and
the sidebar, and I'll show you where you can find lots of new gadgets
that you can add for free. You'll discover how to control screen colors
and transparency, and how to tame your mouse and sound effects. And by
the end of this lesson, you'll know how to decide for yourself when your
computer puts itself to sleep, and what happens when you wake it back
up. |
| Friday - Lesson 04 |
| Do you share a computer with other people? Are you
confused about all the talk of Standard User accounts, User Account
Control, and security? In this lesson, we'll cut through all the jargon
and get to the facts. When you're done, your computer will be more
secure. And if several people share the computer, everyone will have
their own user account, their own set of files, and their own
personalization preferences. |
| Week Three |
| Wednesday - Lesson 05 |
| The PC was invented long before the Internet became
public. And way back then, no one thought about Internet security at
all, so computer have been vulnerable to Internet threats for several
years now. In this lesson, you'll learn what the Internet is, and how it
presents threats to your privacy and security. You'll also learn how to
use the many features built into Windows Vista to protect you from all
those threats. |
| Friday - Lesson 06 |
| Just about everyone uses the Word Wide Web. To do so,
they use a Web browser. Windows Vista comes with a free Web browser
called Internet Explorer 7. In this lesson, you'll learn how to use that
Web browser to get the most from the Internet. You'll discover how to
make text larger or smaller, maintain and organize a collection of
favorite Web sites, and keep your personal browsing habits private. |
| Week Four |
| Wednesday - Lesson 07 |
| These days, almost everybody uses e-mail. Windows
Vista comes with a great e-mail program called Windows Mail. In this
lesson, you'll learn how to set up Windows Mail to work with your e-mail
account, and how to write, send, receive, reply to, and forward e-mail
messages. You'll discover great techniques for fighting junk mail and
phishing scams, and you'll learn new techniques for saving, organizing,
and finding your e-mail messages. |
| Friday - Lesson 08 |
| In today's lesson, you'll learn all about Windows
Contacts, the personal electronic Address Book that comes free with
Windows Vista. You'll discover how to add, change, and remove address
book entries, and how to print contact information and phone lists.
You'll also discover how to e-mail contacts and whole groups of people
with just a few mouse clicks. |
| Week Five |
| Wednesday - Lesson 09 |
| Windows Calendar is an electronic calendar and
personal organizer that comes free with Windows Vista. In this lesson,
you'll learn how to create and manage appointments, how to share
calendars and schedules with people, and how to download event schedules
from the Internet right into your calendar—even from your favorite
sports teams! |
| Friday - Lesson 10 |
| Today you'll learn how to organize and share your
photos using a program that come free with Windows Vista. You'll find
out how to get pictures from a digital camera, save pictures that people
send to you by e-mail, and e-mail photos to friends an family. And
you'll learn how to tag pictures so that you can easily find just the
photos you need for any occasion. |
| Week Six |
| Wednesday - Lesson 11 |
| We're not done with photos yet! In this lesson,
you'll learn how to improve your photos using free tools that come with
Windows Vista. You'll discover how to crop, lighten, or darken photos,
and even how to remove the red eye that's often caused by flash
photography. You'll also find out how to print your pictures in any size
and shape you want. |
| Friday - Lesson 12 |
| In our final lesson, you'll learn universal techniques for working with text on your computer. You'll discover the right ways to type and edit text, and I'll show you how to save a lot of time using universal skills for correcting and making changes to text you've already typed. You'll also learn how to use cut and paste to move or copy text so you'll never again have to retype text that's already on your screen! |
To enroll in this course, click the Enroll Now button below:
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