Glossary of Windows Terms

Add/Remove Programs

Use ApplicationsAdd/Remove... to install applications from Ubuntu’s software library, or to remove existing applications from your computer. Use SystemAdministrationSynaptic Package Manager for more advanced tasks.

Control Panel

Settings that affect everyone who uses Ubuntu on this computer are found in SystemAdministration. Settings that just affect you are accessed from SystemPreferences.

Explorer

To manage the files and folders on your computer, start by choosing an item from the Places menu.

Favorites

Use Places for easy access to commonly-used folders. Firefox has Bookmarks, which are equivalent to Favorites in Internet Explorer.

Internet Explorer

You can use Firefox to search the Web and visit Web sites: ApplicationsInternetFirefox Web Browser.

Log Off

To close all your programs and leave the computer ready for someone else to log in, click the User Switcher in the top right hand corner of the screen and then press Log out.

My Computer

Equivalent items to those in the “My Computer” window are found in various places in Ubuntu.

My Documents

Inside your home folder (PlacesHome Folder), you can arrange documents and other files in whatever folders you wish.

Printers & Faxes

Open SystemAdministrationPrinting to set up printers. Ubuntu does not support faxing.

Recycle Bin

The Trash works much the same way as the Recycle Bin. The Trash is almost always at the bottom right corner of the screen.

Standby

To put your computer into a power-saving mode until you resume using it, choose SystemShut Down..., then Suspend or Hibernate. (Hibernate requires no power at all, but is slower, and is not available on some types of computer.)

Start button

The three menus at the top left of the screen — Applications, Places, and System — contain most of the same things as the Start menu in Windows.

Task Manager

To see or halt currently running programs, or to track processor and memory usage, choose SystemAdministrationSystem Monitor.

Windows Media Player

Programs that play music and movies, and rip music CDs, are available from ApplicationsSound & Video.

Windows Update

To check for updates to Ubuntu, open SystemAdministrationUbuntu Update Manager.