via E-Mail
I was in the Bowl Tower talking to Car Department
Foreman Paul Leverett about a car in the 100 yard. He had
been entering data into the computer when I interrupted him.As I began telling him about the car he started switching through all of his active Windows Screens and immediately had the information we needed on the car. This Alt - Tab method of switching among active programs is one of the easiest methods of navigation when you have several programs open.
It is so suited to the work environment that it was
built right into Win95 but you have to enable it with
Win 3.1.
To do this;
Open the " Main " Program Group.
Then double click the " Control Panel ".
Enter " Desktop " a configuration program.
Under Applications put an x in the accompanying box labeled
Fast " Alt + Tab ".
Simply press OK at this point and back out.
The Task bar at the bottom of the Windows 95 desktop is probably the most widely used method of switching among active programs. But, the Win95 Alt - Tab is an enhanced version of its ageing predecessor.
When you hold down the Alt key and press the Tab key, Win95 displays a selector box similar to Win3.1, except it also shows the corresponding icon. It shows all active programs and minimized ones as well.
A square outline around the icon indicates the program that will become active when you release the Alt key. To switch to the next open program in sequence, you simply press the Tab key while continuing to hold down the Alt key.
To reverse the sequence, simply hold down Shift and Alt keys as you press the Tab key. Win95's multi-icon display box is much easier than paging through the Windows 3.1 a program at a time method.
One other obvious advantage to using the Alt - Tab method, is that the more programs you have active the smaller the buttons get on the Task bar.
Also, Windows 95 will eventually start to truncate the program, which can be confusing at times.
Steve is a car inspector at the Crest Yard in Fort Worth
8-97