Be sure to show file extensions
Ever since Windows 95, I (and many others) have been complaining about the default setting in Windows that hides file extensions. I have seen innumerable examples of how this decision by Microsoft causes confusion. I can’t count the number of times that I have told people in classes or lectures how to make file extensions visible. Lest you think that I am just being cranky, consider this recent article on Mastering File Types in Windows XP by Paul McFedries, who is the author of several books on Windows. He outlines problems that arise from invisible file extensions and comments
One of the fictions that Microsoft has tried to foist on the computer-using public is that we live in a “document-centric” world. That is, that people care only about the documents they create and not about the applications they use to create those documents. This is pure hokum.
And goes on to say
Unfortunately, we’re stuck with Microsoft’s worship of the document and all the problems that this worship creates. A good example is the hiding of file extensions.
For more on file extensions, including a slide show on how to make them visible, see this article.