6.1 Launching Programs

Windows XP lets you launch ( open ) programs in many different ways:

• Choose a program's name from the Start All Programs menu.

• Click a program's icon on the Quick Launch toolbar (Section 3.4.3).

• Double-click an application's program-file icon in the My Computer Local Disk (C:) Program Files application folder, or highlight the application's icon and then press Enter.

• Press a key combination you've assigned to the program's shortcut (Section 4.5).

• Choose Start Run, type the program file's name in the Open text box (Section 2.7.1), and then press Enter.

• Let Windows launch the program for you, either at startup (Section 2.6) or at a time you've specified (see Section 16.6).

• Open a document using any of the above techniques; its "parent" program opens automatically. For example, if you used Microsoft Word to write a file called Last Will and Testament.doc, double-clicking the document's icon launches Word and automatically opens that file.

What happens next depends on the program you're using (and whether or not you opened a document). Most present you with a new, blank, untitled document. Some, such as FileMaker and Microsoft PowerPoint, welcome you instead with a question: Do you want to open an existing document or create a new one? And a few oddball programs, like Adobe Photoshop, don't open any window at all when first launched. The appearance of tool palettes is the only evidence that you've even opened a program.