And the winner is... Windows. There are other operating systems, such as the one in Apple's Macintosh or the techie favorite: Linux. But the marketing battle for the PC is over: Microsoft won. For better or worse, Windows is the overwhelming choice for personal computing.

But what is an operating system and why does it matter? Your operating system is the foundation of all your computing efforts. Software that all your other software requires.

Once you have the building blocks gathered together into a computer, the next step is to add an operating system. Without one computers just sit there doing nothing. The only thing  the "machine that thinks" really knows is how to is follow instructions from an operating system.
 
Operating systems direct your computing. They control the CPU, memory, monitor, keyboard, mouse, scanner, printer, applications (your programs) and everything else. That's why Windows is so important to everything you do. It is your PC's internal traffic cop.

Yet most users ignore it. Big mistake! Do yourself a big favor -- learn more about Windows itself. The more you know about Windows the less frustrating all your computing will be.

The next time you go to Toronto, schedule an hour (or more) for browsing The World's Biggest Book Store. Acres of books under one roof, including Canada's biggest selection of PC books, one block north of the Eaton Centre.

If you are only half convinced this is a good idea or cannot afford the admittedly too high cost of computer books, you should at least prowl the Internet for Windows related web sites.

A footnote: Windows comes in different versions that have different capabilities. Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows ME, Windows XP, Windows 2000. Get a book about the version you have.

Having troubles with Windows? Consider upgrading to Windows 2000 Professional. It likes lots of memory and CPU, and is slower on start up, but it doesn't crash nearly as often.