Chapter 6: Installing and Running Programs

Overview

In this chapter, you’ll learn how to:

• Install software safely.

• Launch programs easily using a variety of methods.

• Run an application as a different user.

• Operate older programs with success by understanding application compatibility.

Almost all users purchase and learn how to use their computers for one reason: to run applications. This means that we who spend a not-insignificant chunk of our computing lives installing software and launching programs also expend our fair share of time trying to recover from problems created by recent software installations, or when other users run programs they weren’t supposed to. It makes sense, therefore, to learn the right ways to add software to our computers and run those new programs so that we minimize the amount of time we exhaust on software installation and on troubleshooting. This chapter will help free up some fresh hours by discussing various techniques for safely installing and uninstalling applications, running applications, and solving program incompatibility issues.