Whenever you get a new program to learn it can be a little overwhelming; sometimes the learning curve can be pretty steep, other times it just looks like it until you get the basics down. Here are some tips that will help you to get a basic knowledge of just about any new program.

1. Use to learn the Help menu – the quickest way to get to it in virtually any program is by hitting the F1 button. This may seem easy, but more often than not people don’t even think about looking here before they call for help from someone else. Most people learn by doing something themselves – you’ll become a better user of your computer if you begin here. (Windows and most Linux distributions have this as well; minimize all of your windows, click somewhere on the desktop and hit F1. Macs may have this feature as well, I’m not sure though – can someone confirm or deny this for me?)
2. Google it! You’ll be surprised what you can find out there. If you’re trying to figure out how to move a Textbox in MS Word and can’t find it in the Help file (it’s probably there too) just go to Google and type:
   

   Microsoft Word move textbox

   I will virtually guarantee that you’ll find your answer in the first two or three links. When I’m trying to figure out a program or a feature for someone else, this is where I’ll go to find the answer. (Soon you’ll realize that I’m a huge fan of Google on the whole).

3. Go to the website. If you click on most programs Help menu, there will be an About InsertProgramNameHere option that will tell you about the program and where the webpage is that you can go to for more information.

That’s it. Those are the three most basic things you can do to learn any program better. Good luck!

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