The Desktop

The desktop is the area on your screen which contains pictures of programs that may be used on that computer. These small pictures are called icons. When you move the arrow on the screen over the icon (using the input device next to the keyboard called a mouse), clicking on that icon (usually twice with the left mouse button) brings up that program.

As every computer has different programs, desktops will look different from computer to computer. Some users might have a custom background graphic behind the icons, such as the popular picture of clouds, which comes with Microsoft Windows. These are merely cosmetic differences. Linux and Macintosh users will notice some minor differences between their graphical user interface and Microsoft Windows.

Public, school, or business computers might restrict access to the desktop: you might see only a few icons, or you might not see any icons at all. Instead you might see a menu item which you select options from using a mouse. While things will look different, the concept of clicking on a program or menu to initiate an action is consistent across all graphical user interfaces.