Astute readers may have noticed that last week’s column didn’t make any sense. Welcome to the world of computing. I was attempting to make a point that behind the scenes, the codes used to format Web pages (HTML) are very much like the codes used by word processors like Word Perfect. Well, guess what? Codes are also used to format pages in desktop publishing programs like Quark XPress. The nice folks at the North Idaho News Network use Quark XPress to lay out this newspaper. And what I forgot (and they didn’t notice) is that XPress tags look and act almost exactly like the codes I described in the text. So Quark stripped the codes I put in my article right outta there. Anyway, it’s just more proof that there’s not that much new under the sun in the computing world. Even so-called "high-end" and "professional" programs still do the same old stuff under the hood.
Okay, enough rehashing past glories. Today I’ll answer a reader question I received, which was "where do you start when you want to write a letter?" Remember that the only "dumb" question is the one you don’t ask. And her question isn’t that unusual when you consider how many people have "inherited" computers from friends or relatives. In her case, her brother set up her computer and then she was on her own. ("See ya, sis!")
A lot of folks don’t know what software is loaded on these hand-me-down computers, so getting knowing how to get started is a bit of a mystery. To write a letter, first click the Start menu and select Programs. Look for an entry such as Microsoft Word or Word Perfect. If you don’t see those, look in the Accessories section. You should a program called WordPad or Note Pad (or both). You can use any of these programs to write something. Once you find the software and open it, you’re confronted with a blank page. Just start typing. Unlike a typewriter, you don’t need to hit the enter key at the end of each line, only between paragraphs. When you’re done, choose Save from the File menu to save the file on your hard disk. Then choose File, then Print from the menu to print it out.
And voila, now she can mail off a letter to her brother and tell him how wonderful her new computer is!