A common way of opening programs from the Windows Desktop is by double-clicking on the relevant icon. I personally find that launching programs with a single click is much easier. To do this, open any folder, open the Tools menu and choose Folder Options. On the General tab, use the 'Click items as follows' section to alter the clicking preference: select 'Single-click to open an item' and then click OK to close the Folder Options dialogue box. Now, all Desktop icons will open with a single click. If you don't like it, simply use the same method to reverse the change.