LeeTutor's Doing Windows

Home Page

Doing Windows

Windows Tips Categories

• Context Menu
• Control Panel
• Desktop
• Icons
• Internet Explorer & Dial Up Networking
• Keyboard
• Miscellaneous
• MS-DOS
• My Computer
• PowerToys
• Shortcuts
• Start Menu
• Startup
• System Tools
• Task Bar
• Windows (Folder & Programs)
• Windows Explorer

Desktop Tips

WINDOWS 98: CLASSIC INTERFACE VS. ACTIVE DESKTOP

Most of the tutoring customers I have who own Windows 98 seem to have chosen the Classic interface, meaning their desktop looks just like Windows 95. (One of the quickest ways to tell that they have Windows 98 rather than Windows 95 is when I click on the Start button, at the top of the first cascading menu is "Windows Update".)

However, I like some aspects of the new Active Desktop interface. I use this both on my computer at work, which has Windows 98 installed on it, and on the one at home, which has Windows 95 with version 4 of the Internet Explorer installed. In particular, I like single-clicking on desktop and folder icons, as I do in my internet browser on web pages. To turn on the Active Desktop interface you must first right-click the desktop, and then click on the option Active Desktop. This will bring up another context menu, where you need to make sure View as Web Page is selected (has a check mark next to it.)

You can also choose to make folder and desktop icons appear similar to web page elements in another way: by having the titles be underlined (like links on a web page.) The underlining can be on all the time, or only when you point at the title or associated icon with your mouse. To get to these options, start up Explorer or My Computer, click the Tools menu (or the View menu in Windows 95), and then click on Folder Options at the bottom of the menu. On the "index card" (Tab) labeled General, click on the Custom option, then click Settings, and click on the option to single-click to open an item. The Underline style you wish to use can be set either to "underline icon titles consistent with my browser settings", or "underline titles only when I point at them."

There are other components to the Active Desktop also, such as: you can have the desktop and folder backgrounds specified by an HTML file; you can choose to have the Channel Bar on your desktop; if you have your computer constantly connected to the internet, you could have such things as continually updating stock tickers or weather news, etc. on your desktop. This sort of thing hogs a lot of computer resources, however.