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New user interface – Dell Latitude C500 User Manual

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Help and Support Center

The Help and Support Center, introduced with Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), replaces
Windows Help from earlier operating systems. The Help and Support Center provides an integrated resource
center for information and assistance in using, configuring, and troubleshooting your computer and installed
hardware devices and software. For Windows XP, the Help and Support Center features expanded search
capabilities, including full-text search and the capability to search across multiple remote sites in addition to
files resident on the hard-disk drive. You can use a single print command to print an entire chapter of help
content.

To open Help and Support Center, click the

Start button, and then click Help and Support. From the

home page, you can conduct a search or select categories of information, leading to task and information
topics covering the use of your computer. Click

User and System Guides for information on using your

Dell™ computer, including installed hardware devices and software.

New User Interface

Windows XP features a redesigned user interface with a new visual style, a less cluttered desktop, and built-
in desktop cleanup features. Window layout has also been changed for Windows XP and, as in the Control
Panel, emphasizes task presentation. The

Start menu has been redesigned. The left half of the new Start

menu includes the most frequently used icons. As you use your computer, the icons in this area are changed
and rearranged depending on your computer usage patterns. If you wish to keep one of the icons
permanently in its location, right-click the icon and click

Pin to Start menu.

To access all the programs installed on the computer, click

All Programs at the bottom of the Start

menu. The right half of the new

Start menu contains useful icons for accessing your files, configuring the

computer, and finding information and assistance. The

Dell Solution Center icon opens a portal to

services and application programs installed on your Dell computer.

Switching to Classic View

If you wish, you may change the appearance of the

Start menu, desktop and windows, or Control Panel

layout to that of earlier Windows operating systems. These classic view options are independent of each
other.

You can easily switch back and forth between the new Control Panel category view and the classic icon view
by clicking

Switch to Classic View or Switch to Category View in the upper left area of the

Control Panel window. This can be handy if you would like to take advantage of the new, task-oriented
features of the Windows XP Control Panel, but you are accustomed to performing a particular task with the
icon-oriented classic Control Panel.

To change the appearance of the

Start menu to the classic view:

1. Right-click the empty area on the task bar.

2. Click

Properties.

3. Click the

Start Menu tab.

4. Select

Classic Start Menu and click OK.