What is Software?

Software is a set of instructions that tells a device what to do and how to do it. Software is a broad term
that covers the programs and components that it required to run. It serves as the non-physical
counterpart to hardware and is essential for the functioning of any device.

Based on application there are two main types of software:

1. System Software: Manages the hardware and basic functions of a device. It provides other software
methods to interact and get work done using hardware. (e.g., operating systems like Windows or
macOS).
2. Application Software: Designed for end-users to perform specific tasks (e.g., Microsoft Word, web
browsers).

What is an Operating System?

An operating system (OS) is the system software that, after being initially loaded into the computer by a
boot program, manages all the other application programs along with hardware resources in a computer
or a device. The application programs use the OS by requesting services through a defined application
program interface (API). In addition, users can interact directly with the operating system through a user
interface (UI), such as a command-line interface (CLI) or a graphical user interface (GUI).

Is Operating System necessary?

Without an operating system, every application would need to include its own UI, as well as the
comprehensive code needed to handle and manage all low-level functionality of the underlying
computer's system software, such as disk storage and network interfaces. Considering the vast array of
underlying hardware available, and the number of software routines that must be run at the system
software level to support computer functions, this would bloat the size of every application and make
software development impractical.

The OS provides a consistent and repeatable way for applications to interact with the hardware and
other system-level functions without the applications needing to know any details about them.

What is Microsoft Windows?

Windows is Microsoft's flagship operating system (OS), the de facto standard for home and business
computers. It was first launched in 1985 as a graphical operating system built on MS-DOS.

In the following years, several further variants of Windows would be released: Windows NT Server in
1993 for servers, Windows CE in 1996 for embedded systems; Pocket PC in 2000 (renamed to Windows
Mobile in 2003 and Windows Phone in 2010) for personal digital assistants and, later, smartphones;
Windows Holographic in 2016 for AR/VR headsets; and several others.

Competitors to Windows include Apple's macOS and the open source Linux OS from Linus Torvalds.
Evolution of Windows Desktop OS:

The following figure shows the timeline of release of Windows Desktop OS versions

Later Windows 11 was released in 2021.

Since Windows 10, Microsoft has effectively turned to the "Windows as a service" servicing model and
also had major changes in its “support lifecycle”, most likely to ensure it competes with mobile
operating systems.

Windows as Service:

Windows as a Service (WaaS) is a model introduced by Microsoft with Windows 10, where the operating
system is continuously updated rather than replaced with entirely new versions every few years. This
approach shifts away from the traditional release model (e.g., Windows 7, Windows 8) that introduced
new features through major updates or new OS releases every three to five years.

Key Differences:

1. Continuous Updates: WaaS provides regular feature updates (about twice a year near March and
September) and security patches (about once per month) without the need for purchasing or
reinstalling a new OS version.
2. Simplified Deployment: IT administrators benefit from streamlined processes to maintain and
upgrade systems.
3. Subscription Model: In some cases, WaaS aligns with subscription-based services, reflecting modern
software delivery trends.

Support Lifecycle:

Until Windows 10, Microsoft had a fixed support lifecycle for each version of Windows, Internet Explorer
or Office. Support expired within a predictable time period after its release:

1. 10 years of support (5 years Mainstream Support and 5 years Extended Support) at the supported
service pack level for Business, Developer and Desktop Operating System products
2. 5 years Mainstream Support at the supported service pack level for Consumer and Multimedia
products
3. 4 years Mainstream Support for Consumer Hardware products

The lifecycles for current products like Windows 10, Windows 11 and Microsoft 365 (formerly Office
365) are governed by the “Modern Lifecycle” which is defined differently. Products and services
governed by the Modern Lifecycle Policy are supported as long as customers stay current as per the
servicing and licensing requirements published for the product or service and have the rights to use the
product or service. To stay current, a customer must accept all servicing updates and apply them within
a specific timeframe, per the licensing and servicing requirements for the product or service.

Windows system requirements for installation:

The above are the requirements as mentioned on the official site. However, you can still install it on
devices that do not meet the official requirements (TPM, secure boot, UEFI, GPT, WDDM 2.0). Microsoft
won't guarantee updates, bug fixes, compatibility, security, etc. So, some apps might not work, there
might be issues receiving updates and thus support, you might face bugs or performance problems, and
other issues may occur.
Cursor operation (terminology):

1. Pointing and clicking (selecting/clicking/tapping):

Move your computer’s mouse or, on a notebook PC, drag your finger across the touchpad so that the
cursor points to the object you want to select, and then click the left mouse or touchpad button once.
Pointing and clicking is an effective way to select menu and toolbar items, icons, and the like. Generally
the selected file / folder / icon change its background to indicate selection.

2. Double-clicking (opening):

This involves pointing at something onscreen with the cursor and then clicking the left mouse or
touchpad button twice in rapid succession. This operation is generally linked with opening of a file or
running an application.

3. Right-clicking:

When you select an item and then click the right mouse or touchpad button, you often see a pop-up
menu. This menu, when available, contains commands that directly relate to the selected object. So, for
example, if you right-click a file icon, you see commands related to that file—copy, move, delete, and so
forth.

4. Dragging and Dropping:

To drag an object, point at it with the cursor and then press and hold down the left mouse or touchpad
button. Move the mouse without releasing the mouse or touchpad button and drag the object to a new
location. When you finish moving the object, release the mouse or touchpad button to drop it onto the
new location.

5. Mouse over:

When you position the cursor over an item without clicking your mouse or touchpad, you mouse over
that item. (This is sometimes called hovering.) Many operations require you to mouse over an item to
display additional options or information. For instance, when you hover icons in the task bar they can
show their open windows’ preview.
Lock screen:

Starting with Windows 10, you get to view the lock screen after you boot up your PC. The UI is fairly
simple, you get a wallpaper with some search icons and a camera icon next to them, allowing you to
explore more about what's being shown in the photo. Clicking on any of these icons opens the result of
the relevant Bing query on Microsoft Edge. You also get the time and date shown on the bottom left of
your screen in a pretty big font. Clicking on the Wi-Fi and battery icons on the bottom-right of the screen
take you to the next screen so you can't really interact with them.

Navigate to "Computer Configuration" > "Administrative Templates" > "Control Panel" >
"Personalization." Look for the setting "Do not display the lock screen" and make sure it's set to
"Disabled."

Sign In Screen:

Once you press enter or swipe on the lock screen, you get the sign-in screen where you unlock your PC
through your preferred authentication method. The UI is quite straightforward here too. The wallpaper
is blurred in the background, you have your display picture, name, and text box to enter a PIN in the
foreground. Some options are present at the bottom right here. You can click on the Wi-Fi icon to switch
your internet connection, toggle accessibility settings from the Ease of Access icon, and utilize the Power
icon to put your PC to sleep, shut down it down, and so on. At the bottom left you get options to switch
between users.
Desktop:

Once you've signed in, the first thing you'll see is the desktop.. You can think of the desktop as the main
workspace for your computer. From here, you can view and manage your files, open applications, access
the Internet, and much more.

It contains the following elements:

• Taskbar—Displays icons for your favorite applications and documents, as well as for any open
application. Right-click an icon to see a ‘jump list’ of recent open documents and other operations like
pinning files for that application.

• Weather/Widgets—Displays current weather conditions and, when clicked or hovered over, displays
the Widgets pane.

• Start button—Click the Start button to display the Start menu. Right click the Start button to display an
Options menu with links to other important tools and utilities.

• Search button—Click the Search button to open the Search pane and search for files and documents
on your computer, or topics on the Web.

• Task View button—Click the Task View button to view all open applications as thumbnail previews.

• Chat button—Click the Chat button to open Microsoft Teams and start or join a text or video chat.

• File Explorer button—Click this button to open the File Explorer for managing the files on your PC.

• Notification area—This far-right section of the taskbar displays icons for a handful of key system
functions, power (on notebook PCs), networking/Internet, and audio (volume). Click this area to display
the Quick Setting panel to make quick system adjustments.

• Date and time—This displays the current date and time. Click to display system notifications and
messages and a handy calendar.

• Peek button—Hover over this slim little rectangle at the far edge of the taskbar and all open windows
go transparent so that you can see what’s on the desktop below. Click the Peek button to immediately
minimize all open windows.

• Shortcut icons—These are links to software programs you can place on your desktop; a ‘clean’ desktop
includes just one icon the one for the Windows Recycle Bin.

• Recycle Bin—This is where you dump any files you want to delete.

Window operations:

1. Maximizing, minimizing, and closing windows:

 Maximize: make it display full screen

 Minimize: shoves the window off the desktop, onto the taskbar, program still keeps running
 Close: close any program running within the window

You can point and click at the respective operation icon.

If the window is already maximized, the Maximize button changes to a Restore Down button. When you
point and click the Restore Down button, the window resumes its previous (premaximized) dimensions.

2. Snapping Windows into Position:

Any open window can be “snapped” to the left or right side of the desktop so it shares the screen with
another app. Start by mousing over the Maximize button for the first window. This displays all available
snap layouts. Select the position you want this window to be within the given layout. You can also do
relative positioning with other applications by selecting snap boxes with already filled icons.

3. Scrolling:

When you have a long document or web page, only the first part of the document or page displays in
the window. To view the rest of the document or page, you have to scroll down through the window
using the various parts of the scrollbar

There are several ways to scroll through a window. To scroll up or down a line at a time, Click the up or
down arrow on the window’s scrollbar. To move to a specific place in a long document, use your mouse
or touchpad to grab the scroll box (between the up and down arrows) and drag it to a new position. You
can also Click the scrollbar between the scroll box and the end arrow so that you scroll one screen at a
time. If your mouse has a scroll wheel, you can use it to scroll through a long document. Just roll the
wheel backward or forward to scroll down or up through a window.
Peeking at the desktop:

With Peek, you can peek at the desktop beneath all that window clutter. You activate Peek from the
transparent rectangular button at the far right of the Windows taskbar. Select the Peek button, and all
open windows are minimized so you see the open desktop.

Start Menu:

Start menu consists of icons for apps that you’ve “pinned” to the Start menu, icons for recently used
files and recommended apps, your profile name and picture and a Power button on the right.

You can click your profile name/picture to sign out of your account or change users. You can click the
Power button to shut down or restart your PC or to put it into sleep mode.

Taskbar:

That little strip of real estate at the bottom of the Windows desktop is called the taskbar. The Windows
taskbar lets you open applications and documents, as well as switch between open windows. For
quicker and easier launching, you can add icons for programs to the taskbar.
Jump lists:

It is a kind of context-sensitive pop-up menus for each icon on the taskbar which get opened on right
clicking the icons. They allow pinning, viewing recent files, opening new instance, pin, unpin, and closing
all windows.

Opening the programs:

You can open the apps/software by double-clicking on their shortcuts or their executable files in file
managers. Also, you can click on the icons in the taskbar or Start menu to open them. Certain apps
require administrative privilege and open a User Account Control prompt asking for your permission

if you trust the app only then allow this (i.e. enter credentials (optionally required) and click Yes). You
can also run certain app you trust as administrator using context menu option ‘Run as administrator’.

Switching between programs:

1. Using taskbar
2. Alt+Tab
3. Using Task View button (shortcut Windows+Tab)
Quick Settings:

Windows 11 has a new Quick Settings panel you use to adjust basic settings—changing volume and
brightness levels, connecting to Wi-Fi networks, switching to Airplane mode, and adjusting the screen
brightness. To open the Quick Settings panel, Click one of the icons the middle of the notifications area
on the taskbar.

Some Windows shortcuts:

Power down computer:

When you want to turn off your computer, you do it through Windows. In fact, you don’t want to turn
off your computer any other way you always want to turn off things through the official Windows
procedure. To power down windows click the Power button in the Start menu to display the pop-up
menu of options.

Difference between shutdown, sleep, and hibernation:

 Shutdown: Turns off the PC completely, losing all unsaved data. Provides a fresh start.
 Hibernate: Saves the current state of the PC to disk, including open apps and data. Resumes
from where you left off. Faster than shutdown but slower than sleep.
 Sleep: Puts the PC into a low-power state, preserving open apps and data in RAM. Resumes
quickly, but requires constant power.

Files and Folders:

All the information on your computer is stored in files. A file is nothing more than a collection of digital
data. The contents of a file can be a document (such as a Word memo or an Excel spreadsheet), a digital
photo or music track, or the executable code for a software program.

Every file has a name. A defined structure exists for naming files, and you must follow the naming
conventions for Windows to understand exactly what file you want when you try to access one. Each
filename must consist of two parts, separated by a period—the name (to the left of the period) and the
extension (to the right of the period). A filename can consist of letters, numbers, spaces, and characters
and looks something like this: filename.ext.

Windows stores files in folders. A folder is like a parent file; each folder can contain both files and
additional folders. The exact location of a file is called its path and contains all the folders leading to the
file. For example, a file named filename.doc that exists in the system folder, which is itself contained in
the windows folder on your C: drive, has a path that looks like this:
C:\users\yourname\documents\filename.doc.

File Explorer:

In Windows, all the items stored on your computer including programs, documents, and configuration
settings are accessible from File Explorer. This is a desktop application that displays all the disk drives,
folders, subfolders, and files on your computer system. You use File Explorer to find, copy, delete, and
launch programs and documents.

 You can also display a third pane within the File Explorer window. This panel can display the
details or a preview of the contents of the currently selected file, depending on what options
you select. To display the Details or the Preview pane, select View, Show, and then select either
Details Pane or Preview Pane.
 For easier access to some of the folders you can include them in pre-defined libraries (like
Videos, Pictures, etc.) by selecting the folder and clicking on ‘Include in library’ in the toolbar.
 Folders and filenames can include up to 255 characters—including many special characters.
Some special characters, however, are “illegal,” meaning that you can’t use them in folder or
filenames. Illegal characters include the following: \ / : *? “ < > |.
 The one part of the filename you should never change is the extension—the part that comes
after the “dot”. That’s because Windows and other software programs recognize different types
of program files and documents by their extension. This is why, by default, Windows hides these
file extensions—so you can’t change them by mistake.
 View option in the toolbar allows toggling visibility of panes, hidden items, file extensions, etc.
 Other options in the toolbar perform their suggestive function for example sort allows to sort
(and group in Windows 11) the files and folders based on different criteria.

Opening files:

Double-click of files in file manager else if files are either pinned in the jump lists or in Start menu click
on them to open them. If a single program has been to open the file it will open at once else choose
from the list of programs you find appropriate to open the file from the pop up menu. You can also set it
to be default for the extension by checking the ‘Always use this app.....’ check box. Alternatively you can
use the ‘Open with’ context menu option for the same purpose.
Moving (Cutting and Pasting) Files:

Moving a file (or folder) is different from copying it. Moving cuts the item from one location and pastes
it into a new location. Copying leaves the item in its original location and creates a copy of the item
elsewhere. In other words, when you copy something, you end up with two of it. When you move
something, you have only one instance.

Deleting Files:

Deleting a file is as easy as following these simple steps:

1. Select the file or files you want to delete. (To select multiple files, hold down the Ctrl key while
clicking or tapping.)
2. Click the Delete button on the toolbar. This simple operation sends the file to the Windows
Recycle Bin, which is kind of a trash can for deleted files.

Recycle Bin:

As just discussed, all recently deleted files are stored in what Windows calls the Recycle Bin. This is a
special folder on your hard disk that temporarily stores all deleted items—which is a good thing. The
default size of recycle bin is 10% of the first 40GB of quota, and 5% of any quota above which is above
40GB for each partition. You can select to use Recycle bin and modify its quota by clicking on properties
from the recycle bin icon’s context menu. If you delete files over the limit, they are deleted without
going into the recycle bin. Otherwise, if you delete a file that would take the bin over its maximum, the
oldest files will be removed from the bin to make space for the newer one. Since deleted files that are
moved to the recycle bin remain in the Windows drive where they were located, the recycle bin storage
can be set for each drive. When you go to the Recycle Bin displays as a single view across all drives so
that you do not need to check all drives individually to look for a lost file or folder.

Restoring Deleted Files:

Windows stores all the files you delete in the Recycle Bin, at least temporarily. If you’ve recently deleted
a file, it should still be in the Recycle Bin folder.

To “undelete” a file from the Recycle Bin, follow these steps:

1. Double-click the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop to open the Recycle Bin folder.
2. Click the file(s) you want to restore.
3. From the toolbar, select More, Restore the Selected Items.

Emptying the Recycle Bin:

Deleted files do not stay in the Recycle Bin indefinitely. When you delete enough files to exceed the
space allocated for these files, the oldest files in the Recycle Bin are automatically and permanently
deleted from your hard disk. If you’d rather dump the Recycle Bin manually, follow these steps:
 1. Double-click
click the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop to open the Recycle Bin folder.
2. Click the Empty the Recycle Bin button on the toolbar.
3. When the confirmation dialog box appears, click Yes to completely erase the files; Click No to
continue storing the files in the Recycle Bin.

Mouse Settings:

In Search Bar search for Mouse Settings and configure the speed, cursor icon, double click speed, scroll
sensitivity, etc.

Keyboard Settings:

Set properties like delay before repetition starts and the rate at which repetition is done from the
Control panel > Keyboard Properties.

Choosing speaker output device:

If multiple devices can be used as speakers and multiple applications are giving audio output, they can
be managed by Quick access bar’s speaker configuration.

Handy pre-installed tools:

Below are some handy pre-installed

installed frequently used tools. They can be opened by searching in the
search bar by the same name as mentioned.

1. Notepad: Used for taking quick notes, and in transit format dumping.
2. Paint: Used for copying, pasting, creating and resizing images.
 3. Sticky Notes: Used for to-do and account synchronized notes.

Performing screen captures:

All Windows versions, from the very first to the present, have offered two keyboard shortcuts for
capturing screens:

1. PrtScn captures an image of the entire screen. If you have multiple monitors, the image includes
all screens.
2. Alt+PrtScn captures an image of the current window.

Both capture methods post bitmaps to the Clipboard, and you can paste the results into any app that
accepts graphics.

Windows 11, offers two additional built-in shortcuts:

1. Windows key+PrtScn captures an image of all current screens (including secondary screens) and
saves that image as a PNG file in the Screenshots subfolder of your Pictures folder.
2. Windows key+Shift+S dims the screen and opens the Snipping Tool app, displaying a toolbar at
the top border of the screen with four options that you can use to capture all or part of the
current display.

Installing Software / Apps:

Sources should be trusted like the official website and Microsoft store. Or some standardized ones like
sourgeforge.net, download crew, etc. Cracked tools should be avoided. Sideloading of Windows Apps
should be avoided.

Apps:

Open Settings then click on Apps. The pane on the left side allows you to manage apps like viewing
installed apps, uninstalling apps, sideloading apps, choosing default apps, viewing and managing startup
apps, etc.
Uninstalling Apps:

1. In search on the taskbar, enter Control Panel and select it from the results.
2. Select Programs > Programs and Features.
3. Press and hold (or right--click) on the program you want to remove and
select Uninstall or Uninstall/Change. Then follow the directions on the screen.

Difference between Windows native apps

ap and software in windows:

4. While the development of native apps is restricted to the usage of Universal Windows Platform
(UWP), software can use Win32/COM API or possibly the newer .NET Framework along with
UWP.
5. Apps are designed and developed keeping compatibility amongst different platforms so are
generally designed to do simpler tasks but with good performance.

Monitoring performance with Task Manager:

When you need to analyze system performance, Task Manager’s Performance page is without peer. It
gives you a quick overview of your system’s performance in real time, measured in multiple dimensions.
The details and charts shown on the Performance page offer a continuously updated snapshot of CPU,
GPU, memory, disk, and network usage, while the Processes page displays details about resource usage
on a per-process basis. Together, these two displays can help you very quickly figure out why your
system is performing more slowly than it should. It also allows you to view and manage all the services
running.
To open Task Manager, use any of the following techniques:

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc.
2. Right-click Start (or press Windows key+X) and then click Task Manager on the Quick Link menu.
3. Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete and then click Task Manager.

Time Zone & Language:

To set your time and time zone in Windows , go to Start > Settings > Time & language > Date & time.

To get additional language or manage languages installed go to Time & language > Language & Region.

For individual language settings click on right most three dots for any language and manage features and
Keyboard.

Clipboard History:

This feature allow to access content previously copied. To access your clipboard history in Windows, you
can:

1. Press the Windows logo key + V

2. Your clipboard history will open in the lower portion of your screen
3. Scroll to find the item you want and select it to paste it into the open application

Power options:

To change the power mode, select Start > Settings > System > Power & battery. For Power mode, choose
the one you want. Choose the power mode that works for you, generally for power plugged in PCs the
best option is ‘High Performance Mode’. You can further configure power plans based on your individual
requirements using ‘Edit plan Settings’

Command-line shells:

Windows has two command-line shells: the Command shell and PowerShell. Each shell is a software
program that provides direct communication between you and the operating system or application,
providing an environment to automate IT operations.

The Command shell was the first shell built into Windows to automate routine tasks, like user account
management or nightly backups, with batch (.bat) files. With Windows Script Host, you could run more
sophisticated scripts in the Command shell. Scripts accept all commands that are available at the
command line.

PowerShell was designed to extend the capabilities of the Command shell to run PowerShell commands
called cmdlets. Cmdlets are similar to Windows Commands but provide a more extensible scripting
language. You can run both Windows Commands and PowerShell cmdlets in PowerShell, but the
Command shell can only run Windows Commands and not PowerShell cmdlets.
Winget:

Winget, the Windows Package Manager, is a command-line tool that enables users to discover, install,
upgrade, remove, and configure applications on Windows client computers. This tool is the client
interface to the Windows Package Manager service. The winget command-line tool is bundled with
Windows 11 and modern versions of Windows 10 by default as the App Installer.