Page 31 - Windows 10 May 2019 Update The Missing Manual: The Book That Should Have Been in the Box

You Could Spend a Lifetime Changing Properties

You can’t write an operating system that’s all things to all people, but
Microsoft has certainly tried. You can change almost every aspect of the
way Windows looks and works. You can replace the backdrop of the screen

(the wallpaper) with your favorite photograph, change the typeface used for
the names of your icons, or set up a particular program to launch
automatically every time you turn on the PC.

When you want to change some general behavior of your PC, like how it
connects to the internet, how soon the screen goes black to save power, or
how quickly a letter repeats when you hold down a key, you use the

Settings app (described in Chapter 7).

Many other times, however, you may want to adjust the settings of only one
particular element of the machine, such as the hard drive, the Recycle Bin,

or a particular application. In those cases, right-click the corresponding
icon. In the shortcut menu, you’ll often find a command called Properties,
which offers settings about that object.

Tip

As a shortcut to the Properties command, just highlight an icon and then press Alt+Enter.

It’s Not Meant to Be Overwhelming

Windows has a staggering array of features. You can burrow six levels
down, dialog box through dialog box, and still not come to the end of it.

Microsoft’s programmers created Windows in modules—the digital-
photography team here, the networking team there—for different audiences.
The idea, of course, was to make sure no subset of potential customers

would find a feature lacking.

But if you don’t have a digital camera, a network, or whatever, there’s
nothing wrong with ignoring everything you encounter on the screen that