#21808
If you're stuck in the rut of the default settings that Microsoft applies to its software, you're missing out: Here's a guide to customizing Windows systems to strip away annoying 'features' and enhance usability.
Garfinkel, Simson L. Technology Review (2004). Articles>Software>Operating Systems>Microsoft Windows
#14808
If you're expecting to be lost in the interstellar darkness of the command line, you're in for a surprise. Although Linux includes some handy command line tools, today most of Linux's install programs, desktops, and programs now boast graphical windows. The desktops and the windows look a little different from the ones you see in other operating systems, but they're recognizable for what they are. As you'll see in this article, you have to look deeper to see the differences: They lie not only in the performance, but also in a design philosophy that favors small tools over monolithic ones, customization over standardization, and a hands-on approach over hidden complexity. Once you adjust to the novelties, even the command line is not the empty vacuum you expected, but a teeming ecology that in many ways is more powerful--and empowering--than the GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces). If Linux is somewhat rougher in patches than Windows, many people feel that this design philosophy more than compensates. After all, one day in the next few years, Linux is going to have the GUI sophistication, too.
Byfield, Bruce. TECHWR-L (2002). Articles>Software>Operating Systems>Linux
#13958
Some Effects of the Macintosh on Technical Writing Assignments 
This paper reports on a study examining writing on the Apple Macintosh and on paper by upper-level students who are novice writers but computer-literate. To gain a better understanding of writing behaviors using the Macintosh versus using pen and paper, we sought to answer two questions: 1) Do these writers revise differently, in terms of the number and types of revisions, when using the Macintosh? 2) Do they produce higher-quality texts on the Macintosh? In addition, we sought to determine whether this population would produce longer texts on the computer than they did with paper and pencil techniques, as previous studies showed with other populations.
Friedlander, Alexander and Mike Markel. Computers and Composition (1990). Articles>Software>Operating Systems>Macintosh
#23669
A Tip on Record-Keeping in Windows
Microsoft Windows keeps all your files in folders (within directories and subdirectories), and allows you to have as many folders as you want. You can also name them in almost any way you want, but that sometimes leads to confusion, because Windows needs to be told how you want these folders ordered.
Pinkham, Gordon. MetroVoice (2004). Articles>Software>Operating Systems>Microsoft Windows
#34213
Speaking UNIX, Part 1: Command the Power of the Command Line
Learn the basics of the UNIX shell and discover how you can use the command line to combine the finite set of UNIX utilities into innumerable data transforms.
Streicher, Martin. IBM (2006). Articles>Software>Operating Systems>UNIX
#35295
Learn Linux, 101: File and Directory Management
You've probably heard that everything in Linux is a file, so start on the right path with a solid grounding in file and directory management -- finding, listing, moving, copying, and archiving. You can use this material in this article to study for the LPI® 101 exam for Linux system administrator certification, or just to learn for fun.
Shields, Ian. IBM (2009). Articles>Software>Operating Systems>Linux
