Learnings of the Week -by Caligdong

Further discussion about the elements of computer were done on the first week of august…

VIDEO CARD enhances the screen display of the computer. It converts digital data into signals that can be sent across the connector of the monitor, which interprets the signal into an image on screen. Video modes are classified into 2: Text Mode where it can only display ASCII or ‘American Standard Code International Interchange’ characters; and Graphic Mode where it displays any bitmapped image.

EXPANSION SLOTS are located at the back of the computer. It provides slots to cards to add more devices on the computer. Examples of these are Audio Cards, Video Cards, External /Internal Modem Card, LAN Card and TV Output cards.

MOTHERBOARD SPEAKER provides simple output sound like indicating hardware errors during start up. It has a component called piezo speaker or a standard “voice-coil” speaker that is attached inside the case and connected to the motherboard through wires.

INTERNAL MODEM resides on an expansion board. It is used so that the computer could connect to the Internet. Computers are digital machines that are using digital codes. Since, standard telephone lines are analogue devices and uses analogue signals. Modem converts (modulate) the digital code into analogue waves and converts the back into digital (demodulate) at the other end.

POWER SUPPLY supplies power to the motherboard, the drives and it contains fan that help in the task of cooling the computer. In order for the device to be the “master”(primary device) it should be placed at the top. And the device at the bottom is the “slave”(secondary device).The slave drive is connected to the IDE cable between the master drive and the motherboard IDE connection. Old IDE cables are made up of 40 individual wires while the new ones consists 80 individual wires. These wires are used to transfer data between the motherboard and the drives.

POWER CABLES supply power from the power supply to the drives. The power cables are red (5 volts), yellow (12 volts) and black (ground wires).

OUTPUT DEVICES are peripheral devices that present, displays, alters or records output after it has left a computer’s system unit.

COMPUTER SPEAKER is an output device that converts output data into sound.

MONITOR is the most popular output device. It gives users a visual presentation of keyboard commands and mouse movements. It displays output data and show user the end results of the processes taking place inside the computer.

PRINTER is an output device that creates images on paper, plastic, cloth and other print media using technologies like ink transfer, heat transfer, chemical transfer, chemical reactions, and physical force. There are three types of printers: Laser Printers, Inkjet or Bubble jet Printers and Dot-matrix printers. Printers are also classified by the following characteristics – Quality of Type, Speed, Impact or non-impact, and graphics. Daisy-wheel printers tend to be the slowest printers, printing about 30 cps. On the other hand, Dot-matrix printers are the fastest printers (up to 3000 lines per minute).

INPUT DEVICES is a peripheral appliance that generates input for the computer and allows user to enter information into the computer to be processed. It also allows user to provide a computer with commands, software, instructions and information. There are seven input devices: keyboard, mouse, microphone, scanner, digital camera, graphic tablet, and joy stick. Other peripheral devices add new service or an additional resource. It includes both input and output devices. Examples of these are- CD ROM drive, Modem and External Drive Unit.

KEYBOARD is classified into alphanumeric keys, punctuation keys and special keys. The special keys are Control Keys, Alt Key, Arrow Keys, Shift Keys, Function Keys and Caps Lock Keys. There are two keyboard designs, QWERTY keyboard and DVORAK keyboard. There are three types of keyboard connectors. These connectors are USB, PS/2 and AT.

COMPUTING PROCESS has five elements namely, hardware, software, data, people, and procedure. Hardware is typically divided into three main categories: input, output, and storage. Software is also known as the “program” which instructs the hardware. Data is the raw facts that the computer changes into useful information. People are also called the “end users”. Procedures are the steps or directions that the user needs to follow in order to complete certain task.

SOFTWARE provides commands that instruct the hardware. It is the programs or data that the computer uses. It consists of both programs and data and kept on some hardware device.

PROGRAMS are list of instructions for the processor. DATA are information that a program needs: character data, numerical data, image data, audio data, and countless other types. Both programs and data are saved in computer memory in the same way. The electronics of computer memory (both main and secondary memory) make no distinction between programs and data.

SOFTWARE has three kinds: Application Software, Operating Software and Programming Language.

APPLICATION SOFTWARE is programs that people use to get their work done. It is designed to help people with specific task such as making a spreadsheet of creating a graphic image. Examples of application software are- word processor, spreadsheet software, presentation software, database software, web browser, and PIM or Personal Information Manager.

OPERATING SYSTEM is a software that controls the computer and runs applications. It keeps all hardware and software running together smoothly. Examples of operating systems are- DOS, Windows, Apple Macintosh, Linux, and Unix.

PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE are used to create all other software whether it is operating system or application software. Examples of Language Software are Visual Basic and Delphi.

PROGRAMMING is a sequence of instructions that tells the hardware of a computer what operations to perform the data.

LEARNINGS OF THE WEEK (Laraflyn B. Camay)

There are three fundamental elements of the computer. These are the OUTPUT DEVICES, INPUT DEVICES, and SYSTEM UNIT.

The system unit acts like the center or core, processing the data and information it receives from input devices. Output devices like printers receive the system unit’s processed information.

The system case is a plastic and metal box that houses components such as the motherboard, disk drives and power supply unit.

The two basic types of System case are (1) Desktop case. It is designed to sit horizontally on a surface, so that it is wider than it is long. These are usually used for office or home PCs. The 2 basic sizes of desktop case are standard and slimline. (2) Tower case. It is designed to sit vertically on a surface, so that it is higher than it is wide. The 3 basic sizes of tower case are full, midi and mini.

The Full-tower cases are usually used for PC servers. The Midi-tower cases are used for higher-end user PCs. The Mini-tower cases are usually for office or home PCs.

The parts of the case are (1) Cover. The case has a cover which is removed by either undoing the screws at the back, or pressing together clips that release it. (2)Front Panel. It provides access to the floppy and CD, a power on/off switch, a reset switch, and LEDs (light Emitting Diodes) to indicate drive operation. The parts of front panel cover are CD-R and CD-RW drives, removable hard disk, 3.5 floppy disk,3.5 drive bays, LEDs, Reset switch, Power on/off switch.

The motherboard is the largest board of the computer system.It contains the CPU, BIOS, memory, mass storage interfaces, serial and all the controllers required to control standard peripheral devices, such as the display screen, keyboard, and disk drive. Chipset refers to the chips that reside on the motherboard.

The mother board battery is used to preserve the computer’s clock’s time and your BIOS settings while the computer is turned off.

The CPU or the Central Processing Unit is the device that interprets and executes instructions. Today’s single-chip central processing units, called microprocessors, make personal computers and workstations possible. It has the ability to fetch, decode, and execute instructions and transfer information to and from other resources over the computer’s main data-transfer path, the bus. It functions as the brain of a computer

The system clock synchronizes the operation of all parts of the PC. It consists of a clock generator that sets up a timing signal, and clock multipliers.

There are two fundamental types of memory. The (1) Main Memory, which is very closely connected to the processor. In this memory, the contents are quickly and easily changed. It holds the programs and data that the processor is actively working with. It interacts with the processor millions of times per second. Most computers available today have memory capacities of 64Mb to 256Mb. When programs and data become active, they are copied from secondary memory into main memory where the processor can interact with them. Main memory is sometimes called RAM (Random Access Memory), random means that the memory cells can be accessed in any order.

Random Access Memory (RAM) means the computer can store, retrieve, alter or delete any items held in the RAM’s at random. It is a semiconductor-based memory that can read and written. Main memory is build from small circuit boards called memory modules. Still the current standard in system memory, usually of SDRAM (synchronous RAM) type. DIMM chips are usually distributed in 64MB, 128MB or 256 MB on a single chip. DIMMs (dual inline memory module) have two access pathways, they do not need to be fitted in pairs as they can be written to and read at the same time.

The BIOS (basic input output system) is a ROM (read only memory) chips that provides:
---The industry standard program code that operates the fundamental components of the PC (for example, VDU, keyboard, printer port) and ensures that the design of each manufacturer’s motherboard is PC-compatible.

---The routines that allow the setup configuration of a PC (stored in the CMOS RAM) to be viewed and edited.

---The power-on self-test (POST) diagnostic tests for the PC

BIOS chip cannot be swapped between different motherboards. The BIOS is often known as firmware as it consists of both the physical chip (hardware) and the programs coded into it (software). The ROM BIOS is normally a DIP chip that can be identified by a label on the chip.

CMOS RAM stores the configuration of the PC. CMOS stands for Complimentary Metal-Oxide Semiconductors, which describes the manufacturing process used to make RAM chip. The CMOS battery is either a NICard, lithium or alkaline cell.

(2) Secondary Memory, connected to main memory through the bus and a controller. The contents are easily changed, but this is very slow compared to main memory. It is used for long-term storage of programs and data. The processor only occasionally interacts with secondary memory.

Common secondary storage devices are the floppy disk and hard disks and compact disks or CD. It is a thin and flimsy as a sheet of paper but is protected by the sturdy, square jacket that encases it. Since the rust is made of iron, which can be magnetized, the disks stores magnetic signals. The pattern of magnetic signals is a code representing your data.

There are 3 Standard sizes of floppy disks are 8-inch is called a largefloppy, 5.25-inch is called a minifloppy, 3.5-inch is called a microfloppy.

5.25-inch floppies were invented by Shugart Associates. 3.35-inch floppies were invented by Sony. The typical 3.5 floppy drive holds 1.44 MB.

Zip is the most popular super-capacity floppy disks is the Zip disk. It holds 100M, which is 70 times as much as 1.44M floppy.

The hard disk might have a storage capacity of 40 gigabytes. This is about 300 times the amount of storage in main memory (assuming 128 megabytes of main memory). Hard Drives are usually designated as Drive C.

Hard disks are better than floppy disks because (1)hard disks are sturdier than floppies; (2)hard disks are hard and firm; they don’t flop or jiggle. They’re more reliable than floppies; (3)hard drives hold more info. Than floppy drives.

The typical hard drive holds 40 gigabytes. The typical floppy disk rotates between 5 and 10 times per second. The typical floppy disk rotates between 5-10 times/second. The typical hard disk rotates between 90-167 times/second. The hard disk is non-removable.

CD-ROM

---CD that holds music is called a music CD
---A CD that holds computer data instead is called a computer CD
---The standard CD-ROM disks has a diameter of 12 centimeters and holds 650 megabytes.
---The CD can hold 99 tracks, totaling an hour of music or 650 Mb.

CD-rewritable drive is a drive which can write onto a blank CD-RW disk and then edit what you wrote.

The DVD or Digital Versatile Disk
---1997, the electronic industry selling an improved kind of CD, called a Digital Versatile Disk (DVD)
---Holds 2-hour movie (including the video and sound)
---Movie Lovers call it a Digital Video Disk

Video Card is a board that pugs into a personal computer to give it display capabilities. Graphics Accelerators are adapters graphics coprocessor for performing graphics calculations. Video Card are also called video adapter, video board , video display board, graphics card and graphics.

The video/graphics card converts digital data into signals that can be sent across a connector to you monitor, which interprets the signal into an image on screen.

learnings of the week>>>by caligdong

another set lessons have been discussed...

a new set of lessons we have learned....

well, here I am again to part the learning that I have ought for the past week. ☺



The lessons we have discussed for the fourth week of July is all bout the elements of the computer.
A computer has three fundamental elements.Namely:

• System Unit;
• Output Devices; and
• Input Devices.

SYSTEM UNIT
>>it acts like the center or core
>>it processes the data and information it receives from input devices
>>its processed information are received by the output devices like printers.


SYSTEM CASE
>>it is a plastic or metal box that houses the components of the computer

such as the motherboard,disk drives,and power supply unit

>>there two basic types of system case:desktop and tower
DESKTOP
-designed to be placed horizontally on a surface
-it is wider
-usually used in home and office PCs
-it has 2 basic sizes: standard and slimline
TOWER
-designed to be placed vertically on a surface
-it is higher
-it has 3 basic sizes:
1. mini (usually used for office and home PCs)
2. midi (used for higher-end user PCs)
3. full (usually used for PC servers)
>>the parts of the case:
COVER -locked using screws
FRONT PANEL -provides access to disk drives, switch, and LEDs to indicate drive operation


MOTHERBOARD
>>the largest board of the computer system
>>it contains the CPU, BIOS,memory,mass storage interfaces,serial and controllers
>>CHIPSET-these are chips that reside on the motherboard
>>its battery is used to preserve the computer's clock time and your BIOS settings while the computer is turned off


CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT
>>it interprets and executes instructions.
>>it has the ability to fetch, decode, and execute instructions and transfer information to and from other resources
over the computer's main data-transfer path, the bus.
>>it functions as "the brain of a computer"

CLOCK
>>it synchronizes the operation pf all parts of the PC
>>it consists of a clock generator that sets up a timing signal, and clock multipliers.

MEMORY
>>it has 2 fundamental types:main memory and secondary memory

• MAIN MEMORY

-very closely connected to the processor
-the contents are quickly and easily changed
-holds the programs and data that the processor is actively working with
-interacts with the processor millions of times per second
-when programs and data become active; they are copied from secondary memory into
main memory where the processor can interact with them
-it is sometimes called, RAM
which means Random Access Memory,
where the memory cells can be accessed in any order.
it means the computer cans tore, retrieve, alter or delete any items held in the RAM's
at random
it is a semiconductor - based memory that can be read and written
-main memory is build from small circuit boards called MEMORY MODULES
-ROM BIOS (read-only memory; basic input output system) chips provides:
*industry standard program code that operates the fundamental components of the
PC
*ensures that the the design of each manufacturer's motherboard is PC compatible
*routines that allow the set up configurations of the PC
*POST (power-on self-test) diagnostic tests of the PC
=>cannot be swapped between different motherboards
=>often known as firmware
=>normally a DIP chip that can be identified by the label on the chip
-CMOS RAM (complimentary metal-oxide semiconductors random access memory)
stores the configuration of the PC; describes the manufactiring process used to make
RAM chips; and, uses NICard, lithium or alkaline cell battery

• SECONDARY MEMORY

-connected to the main memory through a bus and controller
-contents are easily changed
-slower than the main memory
-used for long - term storage of data
-occasionally interacted by the processor
-common secondary memory are: floppy disks,hard disks, compact disks
FLOPPY DISKS- stores magnetic signals
HARD DISKS- usually designated as drive C; it is non-removable
CD ROMs-CD that holds music is called music CD
-while, CD that holds compuiter data is called computer CD
CD-RW-it contents are can be edited
DVD-digital versatile disk;holds 2hour movies
VIDEO CARD-enhances the performance of graphics and display capabilities

>>> The basic parts of the system unit are:

• System Case
• Motherboard
• Central Processing Unit
• Memory
• Video Card
• Expansion Slots
• Speaker
• Internal Modem
• Power supply
• IDE and Floppy Disk Ribbon Cable
• Power Cables

Learnings of the Week (Quennie Rose Colegado)

This week, we discussed the 3 FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF A COMPUTER which are the following:

• System Unit

• Output Devices

• Input Devices

The system unit acts like the center or core, processing the data and information it receives from input devices.

Output devices like printers receive the system unit’s processed information

Parts of the computer

The System case

The system case is a plastic and metal box that houses components such as the motherboard, disk drives and power supply unit.

System Case Types

There are two basic types of system case: desktop and tower. Desktop case: is designed to sit horizontally on a surface, so that it is wider than it is long. These are usually used for office or home PCs. 2 basic sizes: standard and slim line.

Tower case: is designed to sit vertically on a surface, so that it is higher than it is wide. 3 basic sizes: full, midi and mini.

Parts of the Case

Cover: the case has a cover which is removed by either undoing the screws at the back, or pressing together clips that release it.

Front Panel: provides access to the floppy and CD, a power on/off switch, a reset switch, and LEDs (light Emitting Diodes) to indicate drive operation.

Parts of front panel cover: CD-R and CD-RW drives, removable hard disk, 3.5 floppy disk,3.5 drive bays, LEDs, Reset switch, Power on/off switch.

THE MOTHERBOARD

The motherboard is the largest board of the computer system.

The motherboard contains the CPU, BIOS, memory, mass storage interfaces, serial and all the controllers required to control standard peripheral devices, such as the display screen, keyboard, and disk drive. Chipset: chips that reside on the motherboard.

The mother board battery: is used to preserve the computer’s clock’s time and your BIOS settings while the computer is turned off.

THE CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT-CPU

Is the device that interprets and executes instructions.

CLOCK

The system clock synchronizes the operation of all parts of the PC.

It consists of a clock generator that sets up a timing signal, and clock multipliers.

MEMORY

2 fundamental types:

-main memory and

-secondary memory

MAIN MEMORY

Very closely connected to the processor. The contents are quickly and easily changed. Holds the programs and data that the processor is actively working with. Interacts with the processor millions of times per second.

RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY (RAM)

It means the computer can store, retrieve, alter or delete any items held in the RAM’s at random. It is a semiconductor-based memory that can read and written.

ROM BIOS

The BIOS (basic input output system) is a ROM (read only memory) chips that provides:

The industry standard program code that operates the fundamental components of the PC (for example, VDU, keyboard, printer port) and ensures that the design of each manufacturer’s motherboard is PC-compatible.

The routines that allow the setup configuration of a PC (stored in the CMOS RAM) to be viewed and edited.

The power-on self-test (POST) diagnostic tests for the PC

CMOS RAM

CMOS RAM stores the configuration of the PC.

CMOS stands for Complimentary Metal-Oxide Semiconductors, which describes the manufacturing process used to make RAM chip.

The CMOS battery is either a NICard, lithium or alkaline cell

SECONDARY MEMORY

Connected to main memory through the bus and a controller

The contents are easily changed, but this is very slow compared to main memory

Used for long-term storage of programs and data

The processor only occasionally interacts with secondary memory

3 Standard sizes:

8-inch is called a largefloppy

5.25-inch is called a minifloppy

3.5-inch is called a microfloppy

5.25-inch floppies were invented by Shugart Associates

3.35-inch floppies were invented by Sony.

The typical 3.5 floppy drive holds 1.44 MB.

Drive

Zip, the most popular super-capacity floppy disks is the Zip disk.

It holds 100M, which is 70 times as much as 1.44M floppy

HARD DISK

Might have a storage capacity of 40 gigabytes. This is about 300 times the amount of storage in main memory (assuming 128 megabytes of main memory)

CD-ROMs

CD that holds music is called a music CD

A CD that holds computer data instead is called a computer CD

The standard CD-ROM disks has a diameter of 12 centimeters and holds 650 megabytes.

The CD can hold 99 tracks, totaling an hour of music or 650 Mb.

CD-RW

CD-rewritable drive, which can write onto a blank CD-RW disk and then edit what you wrote.

DVD

1997, the electronic industry selling an improved kind of CD, called a Digital Versatile Disk (DVD)

Holds 2-hour movie (including the video and sound)

Movie Lovers call it a Digital Video Disk

VIDEO CARD

A board that pugs into a personal computer to give it display capabilities

Graphics Accelerator: adapters graphics coprocessor for performing graphics calculations

Video Card are also called video adapter, video board , video display board, graphics card and graphics

UNDERSTANDING VIDEO GRAPHICS

The video/graphics card converts digital data into signals that can be sent across a connector to you monitor, which interprets the signal into an image on screen.

Learnings of the Week

During this week, we had a discussion about the different types of computer, its different fundamental elements and the different parts of a certain computer which helps me a lot on determining every function of that particular system.

I have learned that there are many types of computer we are using nowadays and it made me confuse sometimes on how they are being used for they have many uses. The types of computer are microcomputer,minicomputer,supercomputer,mainframe computer,wearable computer,workstation. After we had discussed the types of computer, we have tackled about the three fundamentals of computer which had widen my understanding about the uses of computer and its different functions.

We also tackled the parts of the tower case, the motherboard and others. I also learned that tower case has three types:full,midi,and mini. I have learned many things this week. I hope I could still remember these as we go on on our discussion on computers.

Learnings of the Week (Quennie Rose Colegado)

A computer is a machine that manipulates data according to its list of instruction. It is an electronic device that helps people perform different tasks. An electronic device for the storage and processing of information. It is a programmable machine that inputs, processes, and outputs data.

There are six types of computers:

• microcomputer
• workstation
• minicomputer
• mainframe computer
• supercomputer
• wearable computer

Microcomputer

-is a computer with a microprocessor as its central processing unit. Another general characteristic of these computers is that they occupy physically small amounts of space when compared to mainframe and minicomputers. Many microcomputers (when equipped with a keyboard and screen for input and output) are also personal computers (in the generic sense).

Workstation

-is a high-end microcomputer designed for technical or scientific applications. Workstations are intended primarily to be used by one person at a time, although they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems.

-a desktop computer that has a more powerful processor, additional memory and enhaced capabilities for performing a special group of task.

Minicomputer

- is a largely obsolete term for a class of multi-user computers that lies in the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the largest multi-user systems (mainframe computers) and the smallest single-user systems (microcomputers or personal computers). Formerly this class formed a distinct group with its own hardware and operating systems notably having smaller address space (notice the cited numbers of bits in a data word, ranging from 8 to 24 bits commonly around 16-bits). While the distinction between mainframe computers and smaller computers remains fairly clear, contemporary middle-range computers are not well differentiated from personal computers, being typically just a more powerful but still compatible version of a personal computer. More modern terms for minicomputer-type machines include midrange systems (IBM parlance), workstations (Sun Microsystems and general UNIX/Linux parlance), and servers.


Mainframe computer

-a very large and expensive computer capable of supporting hundreds, or even thousands of users simultaneously.

Supercomputer

-the fastest type of computer, channels all its power into executing a few programs as fast as possible.

Wearable computer

-are computers that are worn on the body. They have been applied to areas such as behavioral modeling, health monitoring systems, information technologies and media development. Government organizations, military, and health professionals have all incorporated wearable computers into their daily operations. Wearable computers are especially useful for applications that require computational support while the user's hands, voice, eyes or attention are actively engaged with the physical environment.

"Wearable computing" is an active topic of research, with areas of study including user interface design, augmented reality, pattern recognition, use of wearables for specific applications or disabilities, electronic textiles and fashion design. Many issues are common to the wearables, mobile computing, Pervasive computing, Ambient intelligence and ubiquitous computing research communities, including power management and heat dissipation, software architectures, wireless and personal area networks and sensor networks.

One of the main features of a wearable computer is consistency. There is a constant interaction between the computer and user, ie. there is no need to turn the device on or off. Another feature is the ability to multi-task. It is not necessary to stop what you are doing to use the device; it is augmented into all other actions. These devices can be incorporated by the user to act like a prosthetic. It can therefore be an extension of the user’s mind and/or body.

Learnings of the Week (Quennie Rose Colegado)

Windows Movie Maker

Windows Movie Maker is video creating/editing software bundled with the Microsoft Windows operating system since Windows Me. It contains features such as effects, transitions, titles/credits, audio track, timeline narration, and Auto Movie. New effects and transitions can be made and existing ones can be modified using XML code.

The layout consists of a storyboard view and a timeline view, collections for organizing imported video, and a preview screen. When in Storyboard view, the video project appears as a film strip showing each scene in clips. The storyboard/timeline consists of one 'Video' (with accompanying 'Audio' bar), one 'Music/Audio' bar, and one 'Titles/Credits' bar. In each bar, clips can be added for editing (e.g., a .WAV music file will belong on the 'Music/Audio' bar). Still images can also be imported into the timeline and "stretched" to any desired number of frames. The Video and Music/Audio bars can be "cut" to any number of short segments, which will play together seamlessly, but the individual segments are isolated editing-wise, so that for example, the music volume can be lowered for just a few seconds while someone is speaking.

After capture, any clip can be dragged and dropped anywhere on the timeline. Once on the timeline, clips can be duplicated or split, and any of the split sections deleted or copied using the standard Windows keyboard shortcuts or clicked and dragged to to another position. Right-clicking any clip brings up the range of editing options. An AutoMovie feature offers predefined editing styles (titles, effects and transitions) for quickly creating movies.

Like all non-linear editing systems, the original camera file on the hard drive is not modified in any way; the current project file is really just a list of instructions for re-recording a final output video file from the original file. Thus, several different versions of the same video can be simultaneously made from the original camera footage.

Windows Movie Maker can only export video in Windows Media formats or DV AVI. ^[8] It includes some predefined profiles, however, users can create custom profiles which utilize newer codecs using Windows Media Profile Editor (part of Windows Media Encoder 9 Series) and copy those profiles to the %ProgramFiles%\Movie Maker\Shared\Profiles folder for them to be used in Windows Movie Maker. ^[9]

Earlier versions of Windows Movie Maker did not support direct burning of DVDs. The project had to be first saved as an AVI file, and a separate authoring program used to produce and burn the DVD. (Limited but adequate authoring software was often bundled free with DVD drives). The Windows XP Media Center Edition version, bundled the Sonic DVD Burning engine, licensed from Sonic Solutions to author and burn the DVD. The Windows Vista version of Windows Movie Maker passes the video project to Windows DVD Maker to burn DVD-Video discs.

Video can be exported back to the video camera if supported by the camera. Movie Maker also allows users to publish a finished video on video hosting websites.

ersions 2.x included in Windows XP includes 60 transitions, 37 effects, 34 title and 9 credits animations. The Windows Vista version includes a different set of transitions, effects and title/credits animations while dropping a few older ones. There are in all 49 effects and 63 transitions. They are applied by using a drag and drop interface from the effects or transitions folders. Titles and credits can be added as stand alone titles or overlaying them on the clip by adding them onto the selected clip. Titles range from static (non-animated) titles to fly in, fading, news banner, or spinning newspaper animations. Due to the flexible interface, programming custom effects and other content is possible for version 2.0 and higher using XML. The Windows Vista version suppors Direct3D-based effects. Microsoft also provides SDK documentation for custom effects and transitions. ^[10] At the Movie Maker forums, users can get assistance on creating and adding custom effects and transitions.