Operating systems

Your computer will come with an operating system installed. Probably it will be a version of Microsoft Windows. This is the operating system installed in 92% of personal computers (http://marketshare.hitslink.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=8). The current version is called Windows 7, which replaced Vista in 2009. However, 65% of Windows computers are still running Windows XP (http://marketshare.hitslink.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10), which was current from 2001 to 2007. We can apparently look forward to seeing Windows 8 in 2012.

The operating system allows the computer to interact with its peripherals, such as the keyboard, pointing device and printer, and acts as host for the application software you will need in order to carry out specific tasks like word processing. It also incorporate utilities for such tasks as file management and text editing.

A new computer will normally come with the current version of Windows installed, but some netbooks come with Windows XP, or occasionally Linux, and Macs come with the current version of Apple’s operating system, called OS X (where X is pronounced ‘ten’), known as Snow Leopard. The iPad’s operating system is a modified version of the iPhone system.

Application software

The range of available application software is enormous. In order to make choices you need to be clear about what tasks you want to perform on your computer.

Word Processing

As you are an author, I feel safe in assuming that word processing will form a major part of your useage. Word procesing software enables you to enter and save text; format and edit the text, and incorporate illustrations.

Wordpad
The Windows operating system incorporates a word processing (wp) utility called WordPad. You will probably find it listed under Accessories in your Start menu. WordPad is somewhat limited in its scope, but you can create and format documents, and save them in a format which can be opened by other wp programs.

Microsoft Works
New computers often have MS Works already installed. It is an Office Suite, or Productivity Suite, meaning a group of applications designed to be of general use at work. As well as wp, these suites include spreadsheet and presentation applications, and sometimes database, drawing and other tools as well. The wp capabilities of MS Works are sufficient for day to day use, but the file default file format, .wps, is not recognised by some other wp programs, notably Microsoft Word, so it is important to save files in a more accepted format, such as .rtf or .doc. You will find more about this subject in chapter xx
When MS Office 2010 is launched in June 2010 MS Works will be replaced by a cut-down version of the Office suite, which should remove the compatibility problem.

Microsoft Office Word
This is the most widely used wp program by far. It is part of the MS Office productivity suite, which hs something like 80% of the market in such products. A new computer may have Office installed in it, but it is likely to be a trial version requiring payment after a month or two. The Home and Student edition costs between £70 and £100. The look and feel of MS Office changed considerably between the 2003 and 2007 editions, moving from menu bars and tool bars to tabs and ribbons.

OpenOffice
A free alternative to MS Office is the open source (free) OpenOffice, available for download from www.openoffice.org. The suite comprises six elements, Writer being the wp component. OpenOffice uses rather more of the computer’s resources than MS Office when running, which may make it somewhat slower.

There are many other wp programs available, including products from Tesco, Ability and Focus.

Spreadsheets

 A spreadsheet is a program for presenting and manipulating information in columns and rows. This is most usually numerical data, on which calculations can be performed, but can also be text, which can be sorted and filtered.
A spreadsheet is useful for keeping and working with financial information, such as accounts. It can also be ued as a simple database, storing and manipulating an address list for example, for producing mailings.
If you have one of the office productivity suites mentioned above, a spreadsheet application will be included. In the case of MS Office for example, you will have Excel.

Email
There are two ways to handle email.

Computer-based email requires that you have email software installed on your computer. Newer versions of Windows incorporate Windows Mail – older versions have Outlook Express. You can install more sophisticated applications such as Thunderbird, or MS Outlook which will provide you with calendar functions as well as email. All email data is saved on your computer, so you need to be at that computer in order to work with your email.

Web-based email, as the name implies, is accessed through a web browser. This means that you can work on it from any computer that has an internet connection. Many firms, including Google (Gmail), Yahoo and Microsoft (Hotmail and Live), provide web-based email.

The distinction is not that clear cut however, because you can normally set up your email usng POP or IMAP so that you can use both web-based and computer-based email. POP (Post Office Protocol), is the system that downloads mail on to your computer from your email provider’s server. IMAP  (Internet Mail Access Protocol), is a two-way service that can synchronise your computer-based and browser-based email.

Graphics

This term encompasses a very broad range of applications, covering functions like creating artwork, editing and cataloguing photographs.

Diagrams

Freehand illustrations

digital photographs

So you’ve decided to move on from the quill or the Remington.

Should it be a laptop or a desktop – a Windows computer or a Mac?

The normal work-related activities of an author do not place great demands on a computer. It’s a reasonable bet that most of the time you’ll be typing text (Word Processing). You might also be drawing diagrams, editing photographs, and carrying out research on the World Wide Web.

Perhaps you’ll be e-mailing contacts for advice and encouragement, or harassing agents and publishers with samples of your work.

You might be sharing your thoughts through a blog like this, or through a social network like Facebook.

Bear in mind that, though your current perception of your needs might be quite modest,  once you get going with a computer you could well find new uses for it, so don’t restrict yourself too much.

Let’s have a look at the range of computers available

NETBOOKS

The cheapest sort of computer you can buy is a netbook, at £100-£250. This is a sort of laptop, with rather restricted capability. It is designed for the casual internet user. It is small and light, typically weighing less than 1kg, and often less than an inch thick. It is capable of most of the tasks I have mentioned, but would struggle with drawing diagrams and editing photographs. Netbooks have small screens (7 to 10 inches diagonally corner to corner), and frequently do not have built in storage memory, so you would need to save your work on a memory stick or an external hard drive. They do however tend to have a reasonable battery life of up to 10 hours between charges.
You might find a netbook useful if you’re on the move and want to dip in to your work from time to time, but you would find it an uncomfortable and frustrating option for sustained working.

TABLETS

A tablet computer, such as the iPad, has much the same capability as a netbook, but does not have a lid, looking rather like a giant mobile phone. It has no keyboard, all instructions being given through the touch-sensitive screen.

NOTEBOOKS/LAPTOPS

If a netbook or tablet doesn’t meet your needs, what about a notebook or laptop – and what’s the difference anyway? The distinction between notebooks and laptops is at best vague and possibly spurious. If there is a difference, it’s a matter of size, with smaller portables being termed notebooks, and the larger ones being called by the original term of laptop. They weigh around 4kg, and screen sizes range from 10 – 17 inches diagonally. They have internal storage in the form of a hard disk, and are capable of being connected to a range of peripheral devices such as printers and cameras. They are more powerful than netbooks, and are capable of all reasonable demands you might make on them, including photo and even movie editing. This extra power comes at a price of course, and you can expect to pay at least £350 for a decent notebook/laptop, or £800 plus if you opt for a Mac.

Portable computers have risen hugely in popularity over the last few years, and now account for more than half the sales of home computers. They offer greater flexibility for the user, and take up less space, perhaps even doing away with the need for a dedicated workstation. However, they do have disadvantages as well. One of the most important of these is that it is nearly impossible to achieve a comfortable working position, and indeed it is tempting to work in highly unsuitable conditions, hunched over a coffee table or perched at a coffee bar. You can improve things by placing the laptop on a raiser and connecting a separate keyboard and mouse. Much more information on using a laptop safely is available from The Ergonomics Society. Heat dispersal is also a problem with portable computers. You should make sure that the laptop is well ventilated (don’t place it on a soft surface, and certainly not on your lap), and don’t run it for more than 3-4 hours at a time.

DESKTOP COMPUTERS

The desktop is the largest and most flexible home computer format. It consists of a base unit containing the processing elements, with a separate monitor, keyboard and mouse or other pointing device, connected to tyhe base unit by cable or wirelessly.  It is not readily portable, so needs a dedicated workstation. The cost of a new desktop computer ranges from £250 to as much as you want to pay, depending on specification and make (Macs start at over £500, not including monitor and keyboard).

SPECIFICATIONS

The principal factors to consider when choosing a computer, apart from the format (form factor is the jargon term), are the processing performance and the storage capacity.
Processing power depends on two things – the power of the processor (cpu) and the amount of working memory (RAM).
Processors - performance is measured in Hertz, a measure, in this context, of the number of instructions per second the processor can execute. Modern processors work at between 1 and 3 billion instructions per second, expressed as 1 – 3 Gigahertz (GHz).  Faster is better – but also hotter, which means that laptops, which cannot disperse the heat as well as desktops, cannot be fitted with the fastest processors. For word processing and internet use, a processor of 1.5GHz is adequate, but for more demanding tasks such as photo editing, 2GHz is a good starting point.
RAM - working memory is the ‘space’ the computer has for its calculations. The more processing space available, the quicker tasks can be done. The amount of space information takes up on a computer is measured in bytes. Computers use binary arithmetic, which consists only of 1s and 0s. Each 1 or 0 is known as a bit (binary digit). Bits are grouped together in 8s to form bytes. Your computer will need at least one billion bytes of RAM (1 Gigabyte) to cope with modern demands. It is relatively easy and inexpensive to increase the amount of RAM in your laptop or desktop computer, and this may give an older machine a new lease of life.
Storage memory – While your computer is processing information it holds it in RAM. However, when the power is switched off, RAM is emptied. If you want the information to be retained, you need to save it, as a file, on a storage device. Unless you are using a tablet or a netbook, your computer will have a hard disk inside it, probably called drive C. This is where you will normally save files. However, you can also save your work onto a  removeable device called a memory stick. The advantage of this is that you can carry your work around with you, and work at any computer. Most laptop or desktop computers come with a hard disk of at least 250 gigabytes capacity, which is more than enough unless you wish to store a lot of films or an awful lot of music or photographs. To put it in perspective, War and Peace would occupy about 3-4 megabytes of storage space, so you could store 70,000 such books on a 250Gb hard disk. However, a  movie might occupy 1-5Gb

PERIPHERALS

Peripherals are the bits you connect to your computer.

Screen

Keyboard

Pointing device

Printer

Portable storage

Microphone

Speakers

Camera

This blog brings together elements of my past and my present. Whether it represents any sort of future who knows.

In a previous life I worked on the production of books, magazines and ephemera of all descriptions.

Now I teach people how to use computers. Mostly older people, but also some who need to get enough skill to make themselves employable.

I was recently approached by an ex-student who is also a writer, suggesting that authors had specific IT requirements that could best be met by a customised course.

I am in the process of designing such a course, and hope to trial it in Winchester in September.

However, it seems to me that there might be a book, or at least a booklet, to be got out of this, and a blog seemed the best place to start.

So …