Fundamentals for Windows 11
The first hour of the course, for anyone who has never used a terminal. No AI, no agent, no coding. This is the hour that makes every session after it make sense.
One folder, four windows
Everything in this session points at a single folder on your own machine.
You create it in the terminal, browse it in File Explorer, read it in Obsidian, and inspect it in VS Code. Not four applications to learn. Four windows onto one folder.
The five tools
Two are already on your machine. The other three are free downloads, and everything they touch stays in plain files you own.
Windows Terminal
Type commands instead of clicking. A click cannot be saved, repeated, or shared. A command can.
File Explorer
The same folders, with a mouse. Turn on file name extensions and hidden items and most beginner confusion disappears.
Handy
Talk instead of type, in any application, offline. A Whisper model covers 99+ languages, including Khmer.
Obsidian
Read, link, and think in your notes. A vault is just a folder, so nothing is imported and nothing is locked in.
VS Code
Look at what is actually in the files. Obsidian shows your thinking, VS Code shows the files underneath.
Before the session
The 60-minute session
No break. You build the folder as we go, and write the note that Module 1 opens.
One folder, four windows
The finished state first. Four windows on the same folder: change a file in one and watch it change in the others.
Terminal history and open source
Teletype, glass terminal, emulator. Then open source in one line, and the question that matters: what happens to your files if the company dies?
The terminal, hands on
Read the prompt. pwd, ls, cd, cls. Tab completion and the up arrow, taught hard. Then build secondBrain and the four PARA folders.
Windows shortcuts and File Explorer
Copy, cut, paste, undo, and the terminal gotcha where Ctrl+C only copies when text is selected. Alt+Tab, Ctrl+Tab, window snapping, F2 to rename, Pin to Quick access.
Install the three apps
Confirm Handy, Obsidian, and VS Code are installed. What installing actually does, and what PATH is, using code --version.
Handy: model, keys, history
Pick a Whisper model, set a push-to-talk key, then dictate into the terminal, Obsidian, and a browser. The History tab gets lost text back.
Obsidian: vault, PARA, links
Open the same folder as a vault. PARA sorted by actionability, not subject. Links, backlinks, canvas, and your first community plugin.
VS Code: the same folder, underneath
code . from the terminal, install an extension, then Ctrl+backtick for the built-in terminal, already standing in your folder.
Write your Module 0 note
Create 2-areas/ai-power-users/module-00.md and fill it in live, partly dictated with Handy. That note is what you take home.
What you can do by the end
Every step, command, and link is written out in the student handbook.
- Say what a terminal is, where it came from, and why it outlived the mouse.
- Explain what open source means, and why the file format matters more than the licence.
- Navigate the filesystem from the command line and read any path out loud.
- Create folders and files from the terminal and find the same ones in File Explorer.
- Copy, cut, paste, switch windows, switch tabs, and open a new tab by keyboard.
- Rename a file and pin a folder to the File Explorer sidebar.
- Open a terminal in any folder from File Explorer, and File Explorer from any terminal.
- Set up Handy with a Whisper model, a push-to-talk key, and recover text from history.
- Open a folder as an Obsidian vault and organise it with PARA.
- Use links, backlinks, and canvas, see all file types, and install a community plugin.
- Open the same folder in VS Code and install an extension.
What you take with you
A secondBrain folder organised with PARA, containing 2-areas/ai-power-users/module-00.md, a reference note you wrote partly with your own voice. That folder is what the next session opens.
Knowledge check
Six quick questions to check your understanding, then five short answers in your own words for peer review.
1.You type pwd and press Enter. What happens?
2.You want to dictate in Khmer with Handy. Which model do you choose?
3.In an Obsidian note you type [[Terminal]]. What does that do?
4.You are in a terminal, standing in your secondBrain folder, and you run start . What happens?
5.What is an Obsidian vault?
6.You have text selected in the terminal and you press Ctrl+C. What happens?
Explain in your own words
Answer these in your own words. Explaining a concept is the best test that you understand it. You can check your results now; sign in when you save to keep them in your account.
Where this sits in the course
Module 0 is the machine. Module 1 onward is the course proper, where your AI agent moves into the folder you just built. Mac and Linux students can skip straight to Module 1.
Join us live
Register on Luma for the seat and the reminders, watch on YouTube if you cannot make it to the room, and keep the student handbook open the whole way through.