Looking Inside the Computer System

Overview: Dissecting the Ultimate Machine Most people believe that computers must be extremely complicated devices, because they perform such amazing tasks. To an extent, this is true. But like any machine, a computer is a collection of parts, which are categorized according to the kinds of work they do. Although there are many, many variations on the parts themselves, there are only a few major categories. The Parts of a Computer System Computers come in many varieties, from the tiny computers built into household appliances, to the astounding super computers that have helped scientists map the human genome. But no matter how big it is it is used, every computer is part of a system. A complete computer system is consists of four parts. Hardware Software Data User

Hardware The mechanical device, that make up the computer are called hardware. Hardware is any part of the computer you can touch. A computers hardware consists of interconnected electronic devices that you can use to control the computers operation, input, and output. The generic term device refers to any piece of hardware. Software Software is a set of instructions that makes the computer perform tasks. In other words, software tells the computer what to do. The term program refers piece of software. Sonic programs exists primarily for the computers use to help it perform tasks and manage its own resources. Other types of programs exist for the user enabling him or her to perform tasks such as creating documents. Thousands of different software programs are available for use on personal computers. Data Data consist of individual facts or pieces of information that by themselves may not make much sense to a person. A computer's primary job is to process these tiny pieces of data in various ways, converting them into useful information. Users People are the computer operators, also known as users. It can be argued that some computer systems are complete without a person's involvement; however, no computer is totally autonomous. Even if a computer can do its job without a person sitting in front of it, people still design, build, program, and repair computer systems.

System Software
System software is any program that controls the computers hardware or that can he used to maintain the computer in some way so that it runs more efficiently. There are three basic types of system software: An operating system tells the computer how to use its own components. Examples of operating systems includes Windows, the Macintosh Operating System, and Linux. An operating system is essential for any computer, because it acts as an interpreter between the hardware, application programs, and the user. Percival A Fernandez Computer Graphics

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When a program wants the hardware to do something, it communicates through the operating system. Similarly, when you want the hardware to do something (such as copying or printing a file), your request is handled by the operating system. A network operating system allows computers to communicate and share data across a network while controlling network operations and overseeing the network's security.

A utility is a program that makes the computer system easier to use or performs highly specialized
functions. Utilities are used to manage disks, troubleshoot hardware problems, and perform other tasks that the operating system itself may not be able to do.

Application Software
Application software tells the computer how to accomplish specific tasks, such as word processing or drawing, for the user. Thousands of applications are available for many purposes and for people of all ages. Some of the major categories of these applications include

Word processing software for creating text-based documents such as newsletters or brochures. Spreadsheets for creating numeric-based documents such as budgets or balance sheets. Database management software for building and manipulating large sets of data, such as the names,
addresses, and phone numbers in a telephone directory. Presentation programs for creating and presenting electronic slide shows. Graphics programs for designing illustrations or manipulating photographs, movies, or animation. Multimedia authoring applications for building digital movies that incorporate sound, video, animation, and interactive features. Entertainment and education software, many of which are interactive multimedia events. Web design tools and Web browsers, and other Internet applications such as newsreaders and e-mail programs. Games, some of which arc for a single player and many of which can be played by several people over a network or the Internet.

Computer Data
You have already seen that, to a computer, data is any piece of information or fact that, taken by itself, may not make sense to a person. For example, you might think of the letters of the alphabet as data. Taken individually, they do not mean a lot.But when grouped into words and sentences, they make sense, that is, they become information. Similarly, basic geometric shapes may not have much meaning by themselves, but when they are grouped into a blueprint or a chart, they become useful information. Within the computer, data is organized into files. A file is simply a set of data that has been given a name. A file that the user can open and use is often called a document. Although many people think of documents simply as text, a computer document can include many kinds of data. For example, a computer document can be a text file (such as a letter), a group of numbers (such as a budget), a video clip (which includes images and sounds), or any combination of these items. Programs are organized into files as well, these files contain the instructions and data that a program needs in order to run and perform tasks.

Computer Users
Personal computers, which are the focus of this book, are designed to work with a human user. In fact, the user is a critical part of a complete computer system, especially when a personal computer is involved. This may seem surprising since we tend to think of computers as intelligent devices, capable of performing amazing tasks. People also sometimes believe that computers can think and make decisions, just like Percival A Fernandez Computer Graphics Page 7

humans do. But this is not the case. Even the most powerful supercomputers require human interaction-if for no other reason than to get them started and tell them which problems to solve.

The User's Rote

When working with a personal computer, the user can take on several roles, depending on what he or she wants to accomplish:

Setting up the System. Have you ever bought a new PC? When you got it home, you probably had it, unpack it, set it up, and make sure it worked as expected. If you want to change something about the system (a process called configuration), you will likely do it yourself, whether you want to add a new hardware device, change the way programs look on your screen, or customize the way a program functions. Installing Software. Although your new computer probably came with an operating system and clime applications installed, you need to install any other programs you want to use. This may involve loading software from a disk or downloading it from a Website. Either way, it is usually the user's responsibility to install programs, unless the computer is used at a school or business. In that case, a system administrator or technician may be available to do the job. Running programs. Whenever your computer is on, there are several programs running in the background, such as the software that runs your mouse and printer. Such programs do not need any user input; in fact, you may not even be aware of them. But for the most part, if you want to use your computer to perform a task, you need to launch and run the software that is designed for the task. This means installing the program, learning its tools, and working with it to make sure it gives you the results you want. Managing Files. As you have already learned. A computer saves data in files. If you write a letter to a friend, you can save it as a file, making it available to open and use again later. Pictures, songs, and other kinds of data are stored as files. But it is the user's job to manage these film, and this means setting up a logical system for scoring their on the computer. It always means knowing when to delete or move files, or copy them to a disk for safekeeping. Maintaining the System. System maintenance does not necessarily mean opening the PC and fixing broken pans, as you would repair a cars engine. But it could! In that case, you might call a qualified technician to do the job, or roll up your sleeves and tackle it yourself. PC maintenance, however, generally means running utilities that keep the disks free of clutter and ensure that the computer is making the first use of its resources.

"Userless" Computers
Of course, there are many kinds of computers that require no human interaction, once they have been programmed, installed, and started up. For example, if you own a car that was built within the last decade, it almost certainly has in on-board computer that controls and monitors engine functions. Many new home appliances, such as washers and dryers, have built-in computers that monitor water usage, drying times, balance, and other operations. Sophisticated user less computers operate security systems, navigation systems, communications systems, and many others. Userless computers are typically controlled by their operating systems. In these devices, the operating system may be installed on special memory chips rather than a disk. The operating system is programmed to perform a specific set of tasks, such as monitoring a function or checking for a failure, and little else. These systems are not set up for human interaction, except as needed for system configuration or maintenance.

Computers in your Career

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Computers are making an impact on some unlikely occupations such as: Restaurant and Grocery Store Managers. Restaurants, grocery stores, and retail outlet managers use computer systems of all kinds from handheld units to mainframes-to monitor inventories, track transactions, and manage product pricing. Courier Dispatchers. Courier services of all types use computerized terminals to help dispatchers schedule deliveries, locate pickup and drop-off points, generate invoices, and track the location of packages. Construction Managers. Construction managers and estimators use specialized software to analyze construction documents and to calculate the amount of materials and time required to complete a job. Automotive Mechanics. Automotive mechanics and technicians use computer systems to measure vehicle performance, diagnose mechanical problems, and determine maintenance or repair strategies.

Graphical user interface In computing, a graphical user interface (GUI, sometimes pronounced gooey) is a type
of user interface that allows users tointeract with electronic devices with images rather than text commands.

GUIs can be used in computers, hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media
players or gaming devices, household appliances and office equipment.

A GUI represents the information and actions available to a user through graphical icons and
visual indicators such as secondary notation, as opposed to text-based interfaces, typed command labels or text navigation.

The actions are usually performed through direct manipulation of the graphical elements. The term GUI is historically restricted to the scope of two-dimensional display screens
with display resolutions able to describe generic information, in the tradition of the computer science research at the PARC (Palo Alto Research Center).

History
Precursors

A precursor to GUIs was invented by researchers at the Stanford Research Institute, led
by Douglas Engelbart.

They developed the use of text-based hyperlinks manipulated with a mouse for the On-Line
System.

The concept of hyperlinks was further refined and extended to graphics by researchers
at Xerox PARC, who went beyond text-based hyperlinks and used a GUI as the primary interface for the Xerox Alto computer.

Most modern general-purpose GUIs are derived from this system. As a result, some people call
this class of interface a PARC User Interface (PUI).

Ivan Sutherland developed a pointer-based system called the Sketchpad in 1963. It used a
light-pen to guide the creation and manipulation of objects in engineering drawings.
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PARC user interface

The PARC user interface consisted of graphical elements such as windows, menus, radio buttons, check boxes and icons. The PARC user interface employs a pointing device in addition to a keyboard. These aspects can be emphasized by using the alternative acronym WIMP, which stands for windows, icons, menus and pointing device.

Evolution The Xerox Star Workstation introduced the first commercial GUI operating system. Following PARC the first GUI-centric computer operating model was the Xerox 8010 Star Information System in 1981, followed by the Apple Lisa (which presented the concept of menu bar as well as window controls) in 1983, the Apple Macintosh 128K in 1984, and the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga in 1985.

Apple, IBM and Microsoft used many of Xerox's ideas to develop products, and IBM's Common User Access specifications formed the basis of the user interface found in Microsoft Windows, IBM OS/2 Presentation Manager, and the Unix Motif toolkit and window manager.

These ideas evolved to create the interface found in current versions of Microsoft Windows, as well as in Mac OS X and various desktop environments for Unix-like operating systems, such as Linux.

Post-WIMP interfaces Smaller mobile devices such as PDAs and smartphones typically use the WIMP elements with different unifying metaphors, due to constraints in space and available input devices. Applications for which WIMP is not well suited may use newer interaction techniques, collectively named as post-WIMP user interfaces. Some touch-screen-based operating systems such as Apple's iOS and Android OS currently use post-WIMP styles of interaction. The iPhone's use of more than one finger in contact with the screen allows actions such as pinching and rotating, which are not supported by a single pointer and mouse. A class of GUIs sometimes referred to as post-WIMP include 3D compositing window manager such as Compiz, Desktop Window Manager, and LG3D. Some post-WIMP interfaces may be better suited for applications which model immersive 3D environments, such as Google Earth. Note: WIMP stands for ("window, icon, menu, pointing device")

User interface and interaction design Designing the visual composition and temporal behavior of GUI is an important part of software application programming. Its goal is to enhance the efficiency and ease of use for the underlying logical design of a stored program, a design discipline known as usability. Techniques of userPercival A Fernandez Computer Graphics

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centered design are used to ensure that the visual language introduced in the design is well tailored to the tasks it must perform. Typically, the user interacts with information by manipulating visual widgets that allow for interactions appropriate to the kind of data they hold. The widgets of a well-designed interface are selected to support the actions necessary to achieve the goals of the user. A Model-view-controller allows for a flexible structure in which the interface is independent from and indirectly linked to application functionality, so the GUI can be easily customized. This allows the user to select or design a different skin at will, and eases the designer's work to change the interface as the user needs evolve. Nevertheless, good user interface design relates to the user, not the system architecture. The visible graphical interface features of an application are sometimes referred to as "chrome". Larger widgets, such as windows, usually provide a frame or container for the main presentation content such as a web page, email message or drawing. Smaller ones usually act as a user-input tool. A GUI may be designed for the rigorous requirements of a vertical market. This is known as an "application specific graphical user interface." Among early application specific GUIs was Gene Mosher's 1986 Point of Sale touchscreen GUI. Other examples of an application specific GUIs are: Self-service checkouts used in a retail store Automated teller machines (ATM) Airline self-ticketing and check-in Information kiosks in a public space, like a train station or a museum Monitors or control screens in an embedded industrial application which employ a real time operating system (RTOS).

Graphical User Interface Timeline

1973

April 1973, the first operational Alto computer is completed at Xerox PARC. The Alto is the first system to pull together all of the elements of the modern Graphical User Interface. Features: 3-button mouse. Bit-mapped display. The use of graphical windows. Ethernet network.

The Alto was the first system to pull together all of the elements of the modern Graphical User Interface. The Alto was designed and built by Xerox for research and, although Xerox donated a number of them to various organizations, they were never sold. Initially the Xerox Alto software was not "desktop" oriented and was more comparable to a system with various pieces of mouse enabled graphical DOS software than, say, Macintosh or Windows.

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1980

Three Rivers Computer Corporation introduces the the Perq graphical workstation. The Single User System Programme grew out of the Interactive Computing Facility. In 1975, the Rosenbrock Report had recommended that engineers should use multi user interactive systems for engineering research but that, in the future, single user systems (later called workstations and now Personal Computers) would appear on the market that would allow much more to be done on a personal, single-user system connected to a Local Area Network with Servers for specialist facilities.

1981
June 1981 : Xerox introduces the Star, the commercial successor to the Alto. Notable features: Double-clickable icons overlapping windows dialog boxes and a 1024*768 monochrome display. Initially the term "Star" referred to the desktop and application software. However the system as a whole became commonly known as "The Xerox Star." The software was later renamed to "ViewPoint", and later renamed again to "GlobalView." January 1983 : Apple introduces the Lisa.

1983

Notable features: Pull down menus and menu bars. The Apple Lisa Office System was released in 1983 by Apple Computers with their Lisa microcomputer. The Lisa hardware, operating system, and its set of office applications were designed by Apple to work together to create a powerful document processing workstation. Microsoft's "Windows" would not see the light of day for several more years.

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Visi Corp releases Visi On, the first integrated graphical software environment for IBM PCs. VisiCorp Visi On was the first full featured desktop GUI for the IBM PC. Legend has it Bill Gates saw a demo of this running at the 1982 comdex running on an IBM PC. He freaked out because Microsoft didn't have anything like this yet, ran back to Microsoft Headquarters, and had them start work on what became Windows. Microsoft announces their new "Windows" program for the IBM PC but does not release it until 1985. Notable features: Is supposed to have overlapping / resizable windows.

1984

Janaury 1984: Apple introduces the Macintosh.

September : Digital Research announces its GEM icon/desktop user interface for 8086- and DOS-based computers. GEM was a very popular GUI for DOS until Microsoft Windows killed it. There were a number of third party applications designed to run under GEM, and the GEM
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desktop was also later used in ViewMAX, the file manager for DR-DOS. June: "window system X" announced at MIT. Versions 1-6 were monochrome only, and ran on DEC VS100's displays connected to VAXen and VAXstations 1 and 2. Versions 8-10 dealt with color, for the VAXstation II/GPX. X10 is the first version that saw widespread availability and use on many vendor's systems. Version 11 was redesign for higher performance, more window management styles, extensibility and better graphics capability

1985
July: Commodore introduces the Amiga 1000 with the Amiga Workbench Version 1.0. When the Amiga was first introduced in 1985 it was far ahead of it's time with features such as multiple resolution high-color graphics, stereo sound, and preemptive multitasking that made it a great machine for multimedia applications and gaming. August: Microsoft finally releases the first version of Windows. Features: Windows can not be overlapped, but are instead "tiled". Windows are not allowed to cover an area at the bottom of the screen that is reserved for "iconized" programs.

1986
1986: Apple threatens to sue Digital
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Research because the GEM desktop looked too much like Apple's Macintosh. Digital Research cripples the desktop application so Apple will not sue. The new GEM desktop now has just two unmovable, nonresizable windows for file browsing.

1987
March 1987 - Apple introduces the Apple Macintosh II, the first color Macintosh. Features: 640*480*256 color with 24 bit color card available.

Microsoft releases the second version of Windows, version 2.03. Features: Finally has resizable / overlapping windows and new windowing controls.

1988

September 1988: Apple releases GS/OS, a 16-bit operating system with a Macintosh-like GUI for the Apple IIGS.

1990
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May 1990: Windows 3.0 released by Microsoft Features: Program Manager shell.

1992

Spring of 1992: IBM releases OS/2 Version 2.0, a true 32-bit OS. Features a new "Workplace Shell", an object oriented user interface that is heavily integrated with the rest of the OS.

March: Microsoft introduces Windows 3.1. The user interface is basically the same as Windows 3.0 but now includes their "multimedia" enhancements.

1993

May 1993 Microsoft releases the first version of Windows NT, their 32-bit OS. They give it the version number "3.1" and use the same user interface they do for regular Windows 3.1. Made available for Intel, Power PC, Alpha, and MIPS systems.

1995

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1995: Microsoft introduces Windows 95 on August 24th.

1996
IBM Releases OS/2 Warp 4 with a significant facelift for the Workplace Shell.

1997
July 1997: Mac OS 8 is finally released. Selling 1.25 million copies in less than 2 weeks, it becomes the best-selling software in that period.

1998
June 25, 1998: Microsoft releases Windows 98. Features: Internet Explorer Web browser application takes over the role of the Windows shell, advertising right on the desktop, entire help system replaced by Internet Explorer.

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July 12, 1998: KDE 1.0 released Features: A very Windows 9x like environment for Linux.

2000
January 5, 2000: Apple announces Aqua, the new look for their upcoming MacOS X client.

2001
October 25, 2001: Microsoft releases Windows XP (AKA Windows NT 5.1) Features: Tons of eye candy. "Product Activation" tethers XP to the existence of the Microsoft corporation. The dog from Microsoft Bob.

2007
January 30, 2007. After a long wait, Microsoft finally releases Windows Vista (Windows NT 6.0). Features: 3D hardware-rendered user interface like MacOS X. Bundles IE 7,. unremovable as always. Increased Digital Restrictions Management that tries to prevent playback or duplication of unlicensed audio and video material.

Why Ubuntu?
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The one question most asked is, Why Ubuntu? Its development is open The whole philosophy behind the GNU project of which Linux is a part (and Ubuntu is a flavor of Linux) is that software should be free. Although that often means the software is free of charge (not always, as you can see in the successful marketing of Red Hat products and Novells SUSE products, both based on Linux), it means more importantly that all development is visible and shared. Downloads and upgrades are free So whether you are a personal user running Ubuntu at home or one of hundreds of people in a company running Ubuntu, you pay nothing for the software. People around the world, of every economic class, so long as they have access to a computer, can use everything offered as part of Ubuntu. And not only is the original download free but so is every upgrade that follows. Its quick to install If you havent installed Ubuntu before but have installed an operating system such as Windows XP, Vista, or 7, youll be amazed at how quick and easy Ubuntu is to install. Upgrading is easy Whenever a new version is released, Ubuntu will tell you and offer to upgrade automatically, at no cost, as long as you have an Internet connection. Support is readily available For home and private users, a wealth of support is available at the Ubuntu website and in forums across the Internet. If you have a problem, you can usually get an answer within hours (if not minutes). This is because Ubuntu is written by volunteers all around the globe who maintain contact with each other via these forums, and they are always happy to help out if they can. Enterprise support is priced modestly Although free support is available, businesses will probably find it much more convenient to take out a multi-installation license for a Long Term Support version of Ubuntu (such as 10.04). This brings a whole new level of assistance to the enterprise user, while still keeping the overall running costs of Ubuntu far cheaper than proprietary operating systems such as Windows. You can modify it If you have programmers who are familiar with Linux in your organization, they can obtain the Ubuntu source code totally free of charge and can then modify it in any way necessary, as long as they release the new code under the same terms. This can drastically speed up a companys development cycle by relying on software thats already been written. This is, in fact, how new features often get added to Linux, and how parts of the operating system are improved. Its portable You can run Ubuntu from a CD-ROM or USB thumb drive without installing it. It comes with office applications Ubuntu comes with OpenOffice.org preinstalled so that you can get up and running straight away, writing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, and your files will be compatible with Microsoft Office. The Parts That Make Up Ubuntu Ubuntu, named after a South African word meaning humanity toward others, is a free operating system (OS) with a strong focus on usability and ease of installation. It is sponsored by the UK company Canonical Ltd., owned by Mark Shuttleworth. Debian
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Initially developed in 1993, Debiana contraction of the first name of the developer, Ian Murdock, along with that of Debra Lynn, a former girlfriendis not backed by any company, yet it still manages to provide the basis of over a dozen other Linux distributions, and is available as both a desktop and a server operating system. GNU Both Debian and Ubuntu, and most of their constituent parts, are released under the GNU General Public License (GPL) and the Lesser General Public License (LGPL). The term GNU is a recursive acronym (a kind of joke that is popular among software hackers); it stands for GNUs Not Unix. The GNU project was started in 1984 at MIT by Richard Stallman, who had the goal of making a totally free operating system. The Linux Kernel The Linux kernel is the core operating system used by all distributions of Linux, and is generally pronounced lin-ucks. It was created in 1991 by Linus Torvalds, a Finnish software engineer, who also had a vision of creating a free operating system. Tux You may often see a penguin character called Tux used as the Linux. It was created by Larry Ewing using GIMP (the GNU Image Manipulation Program) as an entry to a Linux competition. Surprisingly, it didnt win, but it has since become the official mascot. Linux Distributions Linux comes in a variety of different versions called distributions, or distros for short. Generally each distribution consists of the Linux kernel along with libraries and utilities from the GNU project, as well as a variety of applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, media players, and so on.

The Desktop: Accessing Applications and Features

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Logging In You may wonder why theres a whole section on logging in. Well, its because you can do more than just log in at this screen, as you can see from Figure 4-1. Ive set up my system so the login screen already shows the user Robin and is waiting for a password to be entered. But at the bottom of the screen are a number of options you can use to modify your login session. So, is before getting on with the logging in itself.

Language By clicking the Language drop-down menu at the bottom left of the screen (displaying the country United States in the screen grab,) you can change the language you will be using, which is useful if you need to work in more than one language. For example, Canadians might need to use both English and French, or Belgians might need to switch between Flemish and French, and so on.

Keyboard If you change the language, you can also change your keyboard layout to match it by clicking the Keyboard drop-down menu and choosing the layout you need, as shown by Figure 4-4. If, when using Ubuntu, you press a key and an unexpected character appears on the screen, you can
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probably fix the problem right there: you just have to figure out which keyboard matches your language and make the change. Once youhave chosen the right one, click OK to continue.

Sessions This option lets you choose the type of desktop to open (see Figure 4-5). By default, it will be the GNOME There is also the Failsafe GNOME option that you can choose if you have display problems when using the regular GNOME desktop. The other option available here is xterm, which opens up a Terminal instead of the Ubuntu desktop. This is useful for situations when the desktop seems to crash or wont even open, perhaps because of changing a graphic driver.

Accessibility If you need it, the Accessibility menu (or as Ubuntu calls it, Universal Access Preferences) can be called up by clicking the icon of a person with his arms and legs extended. You can then enable any or all of the following options: Use onscreen keyboard Use screen reader Use screen magnifier Enhance contrast in colors Make text larger and easier to read Use sticky keys Use bounce keys Use slow keys

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Desktop Layout One of the best things about Ubuntu is the care and attention thats gone into developing its desktop layout. Based on the GNOME desktop environment (unless you are using Kubuntu or Xubuntu), it provides a slick and intuitive interface to your computer (as do both Xfce and KDE). The screen grab in Figure 4-6 shows a typical Ubuntu desktop soon after installation. Take a look at the various parts by taking a clockwise tour, starting at the top left where there are the three main menus. If you are used to using Windows, you can think of these menus as being three Start menus instead of one; rather than having to drill down through a single tree of menu items, Ubuntu divides the options into things dealing with applications, places, and the system itself.

The Applications Menu The Applications menu (see Figure 4-7) contains the main programs and accessories you use. This includes things such as Calculator, CD/DVD Creator, and Terminal under the Accessories subheading; over a dozen games under Games; the GIMP image editor and F-Spot Photo Manager under Graphics; the Firefox web browser and Empathy instant messenger (IM) program under Internet; Dictionary and the OpenOffice.org applications under Office; and Sound Recorder, Brasero Disc Burner, and Movie Player under Sound & Video. As you use Ubuntu and start to install more applications, they will usually appear in this menu under new subheadings such as Education, System Tools, Universal Access, and so on. So, if you cant find a program, the Applications menu is the first place to look.

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The Places Menu The Places menu (see Figure 4-8) is where you can browse and search all the folders on your computer, as well as any external drives or USB memory sticks. It is also the place for connecting to other computers on the network. The Home Folder group The first group of entries in this menu relate to your local computer, as follows: Home Folder Each user on the computer has a different home folder, so this is your main folder on the computer. In my case the path to the folder is /home/robin. For a user named hannah, it would be /home/hannah. All the folders referred to in this group are subfolders of this main one. So, in my case, my Desktop is at /home/robin/Desktop. Note the capital letter D. Linux is case-sensitive, so you must use the capital letter when referring to this folder. Desktop This folder contains all your desktop items, excluding mounted drives. Documents This is the place where youll find your documents as stored by default by applications such as OpenOffice.org. Music Music applications will usually use this folder for storing music you download, record, or edit. Pictures Your photos and other images as handled by programs such as the GIMP will be stored here. Videos Videos will generally reside in this folder. Downloads By default, downloaded files are saved in this folder. The Storage Devices group The second group of entries relates to your computers hard disk drives and any attached USB memory sticks or external hard drives. In Figure 4-8, you can see the first item is called Computer.

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When you click it, a new window similar to the one shown in Figure 4-9 will appear showing all the storage devices and networks attached to your computer or connected to the network. When you click one (either in the File Browser or the Places menu) you may be prompted for your password; if so, enter it. A window such as the one in Figure 4-10 will then open, and as long as the folders and files have the required permissions, you can copy files between the Ubuntu and Windows partitions. Note: Whenever you click a storage device, Ubuntu will mount it as an icon on the desktop so that you can quickly reference it from there in the future, until you unmount it or log off.

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The Network group In Figure 4-8, you can see that a mounted network folder called transfer on iq500 in the Network group of the Places menu. This name means the folder called transfer on the computer called iq500. To access other computers and folders on the network, you click the Network entry to bring up a File Browser window such as the one in Figure 4-11, where two computers on the local network have been found (AMADEUS and MATTHEW), and a Windows network has also been detected. Clicking AMADEUS takes me to the shared folders on another Linux computer on my desk, whereas clicking Windows Network first brings up the workgroups Ubuntu has detected within the Windows network. In my case, as shown in Figure 4-12, three workgroups have been found: HOME, MSHOME, and WORKGROUP.

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Clicking any of these will bring up another window showing all the computers within that network. So, for example, clicking MSHOME brings up five computers in the D workgroup, as shown in Figure 4-13. From here on in, you can choose a computer and then select available folders on that machine, although you will have to enter the right passwords for computers that require them.

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Once you have connected to another computer and opened up a folder, it will then become accessible directly from the Places menu, and will also be mounted on the desktop as an icon. Of course, if your computer isnt part of a network or you have a different set of workgroups, what you see when you use the Networks group of the Places menu may be quite different. In any case, you should be able to access whatever Windows and Mac systems that your site can access. The Search for Files and Recent Documents groups The final group in the Places menu is for searching for files or selecting recently accessed documents. Figure 4-14 shows both the Search for Files window and the Recent Documents submenu of the Places menu. When searching for files you can tell Ubuntu where to look by clicking the Look in folder dropdown list and selecting the folders and/or computers or external drives to search.

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The System Menu The System menu (see Figure 4-15) has two groups of items

Preferences The System Preferences menu (see Figure 4-16) is the place to go when you need to change various settings in your Ubuntu configuration, ranging from the keyboard and display to power management, sound, and the applications to run automatically when the computer boots up.

Administration The System Administration menu (see Figure 4-17) is where you make more fundamental changes to your computer, such as installing hardware device drivers, setting up TV tuners or webcams, and installing new packages.
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