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Saturday, January 02, 2010

Managing Multiple Programs

In a previous lesson we learned how to use the Ctrl-Esc and Esc sequences to load several programs.

In this lesson we will learn how to gain repeated access to Notepad, Solitaire and Explorer once they are loaded.

Load Notepad, then Solitaire, then Windows File Explorer.

You now have 3 programs open on your computer.

Let's suppose that you opened them in the sequence above (Notepad, Solitaire, Explorer).

The last-accessed program was Explorer, the second-last accessed program was Solitaire.

a) With Explorer in plain view, hold down the Alt ("Alternate") key and tap the Tab key just once, then let go the keyboard.

Solitaire springs to the front.

The last-accessed program was Solitaire, the second-last accessed program was Explorer.

b) With Solitaire in plain view, hold down the Alt ("Alternate") key and tap the Tab key just once, then let go the keyboard.

Explorer springs to the front.

The last-accessed program was Explorer, the second-last accessed program was Solitaire.

c) With Explorer in plain view, hold down the Alt ("Alternate") key and tap the Tab key just once, then let go the keyboard.

Solitaire springs to the front.

The last-accessed program was Solitaire, the second-last accessed program was Explorer.

d) With Solitaire in plain view, hold down the Alt ("Alternate") key and tap the Tab key just once, then let go the keyboard.

Explorer springs to the front.

You get the idea! Explorer-Solitaire-Explorer-Solitaire-Explorer-Solitaire ...

Now:

The third-last accessed program was Notepad; it was the first program opened, but so far we have been shilly-shalling between Solitaire and Explorer.

e) Hold down the Alt ("Alternate") key and tap the Tab key TWICE, then let go the keyboard.

Notepad springs to the front.

Explorer was the second-most-recent program accessed, so a series of separate Alt-Tab; Alt-Tab; Alt-Tab etc will oscillate between Notepad and Explorer.

Poor old Solitaire is now the third-most-recent program accessed.

f) Hold down the Alt ("Alternate") key and tap the Tab key TWICE, then let go the keyboard.

Solitaire springs to the front.

Now imagine that instead of these three programs you have opened your email program, a word-processing document, and a spreadsheet.

You can flit between all three copying-and-pasting without having to close and reopen them over and over again.

In the next lesson I'll explore one of the Golden Rules of Windows: "Never Close, Never Minimize".

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Toronto and Mississauga, Tuesday, December 07, 2010 10:22 AM

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