Technical Writing – Windows User Interface Components in Software Documentation (2) – Window

User interface documentation, one of the important tasks in software documentation, requires a clear and consistent definition of all interface components. In this second part of the series, we continue our review of the most important interface components that a technical writer should be familiar with.

NOTENote: Windows, Mac, and Linux machines have different user interfaces, depending on the particular operating system (OS) (or “distribution” in the case of Linux) installed on your machine. This series is limited to the Windows interface only.

First of all, let’s clarify the concept. difference between a SCREEN and a WINDOW.

ON SCREEN, as defined by Microsoft, is the “graphical part of a visual output device”. It is sometimes used interchangeably with a “MONITOR” or a “SCREEN”. Both are sometimes used together as in the retronym “monitor screen”.

ON WINDOWon the other hand, it refers to the individual display area surrounded by a FRAME and is displayed when the user clicks a button or selects certain menu options.

A “screen” displays one or more “windows” but not the other way around.

A “screen” has a size that is the size of the monitor. Each “window”, on the other hand, can be a different size depending on the user’s preference.

A “window” is a more abstract term compared to a “screen” and that is why although there is a “screen RESOLUTION” (number of pixels in a unit of screen length), there is no such thing as a “window resolution” correspondent. There are, for example, “screen saver” programs. But there are no similar “window guards”. You can save and close a window, but there is always one screen, as the physical means of the interface, no matter what window(s) you are showing.

When multiple windows are open on a screen, the window that is selected and responds to user commands is called the window in FOCUS. By “focusing” a window, you select it and make it respond to your interaction.