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Part 1
Windows 11 Stuff Everybody Thinks You Already Know
IN THIS PART …
Understand the changes in Windows 11.
Navigate and customize the new Start menu.
Store files in the cloud with OneDrive.
Chapter 1
What Is Windows 11?
IN THIS CHAPTER
Chances are good that you’ve heard about Windows: the boxes and windows that greet you whenever you turn on your computer. In fact, millions of people worldwide are puzzling over Windows as you read this book. Most new computers and laptops sold today come with Windows preinstalled, ready to toss colorful boxes onto the screen.
This chapter helps you understand why Windows lives inside your computer, and I introduce Microsoft’s latest Windows version, Windows 11. I explain how Windows 11 differs from previous Windows versions, and why parts of Windows 11 and its gang of apps can change behind your back.
What Is Windows, and Why Are You Using It?
Created and sold by a company called Microsoft, Windows isn’t like your usual software that lets you calculate income taxes or send angry emails to politicians. No, Windows is an operating system, meaning it controls the way you work with your computer. It’s been around since 1985, and the latest incarnation is called Windows 11, shown in Figure 1-1.
FIGURE 1-1: Although Windows 11 looks different on different PCs, it usually looks much like this.
The name Windows comes from all the little windows it places on your computer screen. Each window shows information, such as a picture, a program, or a baffling technical reprimand. You can place several windows onscreen simultaneously and jump from window to window, visiting different programs. Or you can enlarge one window to fill the entire screen.
When you turn on your computer, Windows jumps onto the screen and begins supervising any running programs. When everything goes well, you don’t really notice Windows; you simply see your programs or your work. When things don’t go well, though, Windows often leaves you scratching your head over a perplexing error message.
In addition to controlling your computer and bossing around your programs, Windows comes with a bunch of free programs and apps — mini-programs. These programs and apps let you do different things, such as write and print letters, browse the internet, play music, and send your friends dimly lit photos of your latest meal.
Microsoft touts Windows as a helpful companion that always keeps your best interests in mind, but that description isn’t really true. Windows always keeps Microsoft’s interests in mind.
For example, Microsoft uses Windows to plug its own products and services. Microsoft Edge, the new Windows web browser, opens with links to Microsoft’s own websites. The browser’s Favorites area, a place for you to add your favorite web destinations, comes stocked with Microsoft websites.
Windows 11 places a link to OneDrive, its online storage service, in every folder. But Microsoft isn’t as quick to mention that you must pay a recurring fee when you reach your storage limit.
Advertisements appear on the Start menu, as well as the Windows lock screen, the screen that appears when you haven’t used your PC for a while.
The Maps app uses the Microsoft Bing mapping service, rather than Google Maps or another competitor.
Microsoft also wants you to start buying apps rather than traditional programs. Apps are sold only through the bundled Microsoft Store app, and Microsoft takes a cut of each sale.
Simply put, Windows not only controls your computer but also serves as a Microsoft advertising vehicle. Treat these built-in advertising flyers as a salesperson’s knock on your door.
And why are you using Windows 11? Well, you probably didn’t have much choice. Nearly every computer, laptop, or Windows tablet sold after October 2021 comes with Windows 11 preinstalled. A few people escaped Windows by buying Apple computers (those nicer-looking computers that cost a lot more). But chances are good that you, your neighbors, your boss, and millions of other people around the world are using Windows.
Microsoft wants Windows 11 and its gang of apps to run on nearly everything: PCs, laptops, tablets, video game consoles, and even yet-to-be-invented gadgets. That’s why Windows 11 includes many large buttons for easier poking with fingers on touchscreens. Windows 11 can also run apps, small programs usually found on smartphones and tablets, in windows on a desktop PC.
To confuse everybody, Microsoft never released a Windows 9. Microsoft skipped a version number when moving from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10.
To confuse everybody even more, Microsoft said Windows 10 would be the last version of Windows. Six years later, Microsoft began pushing Windows 11.
For years, the desktop’s Start menu lived in your screen’s lower-left corner. Windows 11 moves the Start menu, as well as the Windows key that launches it, to the screen’s
