# Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/User Interface Overview

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Blender\'s **user interface** (the means by which you control the
software) is not particularly easy to learn. However, it has improved
over time and is expected to continue doing so. The current version of
the Blender software is available for download from the Blender
Foundation\'s website.

The tutorials in this section will familiarize you with the basics of
the user interface. By the end of this section, you should be able to:

-   resize, split, and merge any Blender window;
-   change the type of any Blender window;
-   access user preferences;
-   access panels containing buttons and other controls;
-   change the viewpoint of a viewport.

For those new to Blender, this is a fundamental section of the book.

### Advice on Customization

Blender is a complex software package with many customizable features.
You can customize the user interface to assign new functions to buttons
and hotkeys. In fact, you can change almost anything to suit yourself.
However, this complicates the giving and following of directions. It is
recommended you adhere to the default screen arrangements of Blender in
order to be able to follow the remaining parts of these tutorials.
Blender ships with 4 to 5 screen-content arrangements which are suitable
for almost any kind of job you\'ll want to use it for - from creating
motion and animation to making games.

We recommend leaving Blender\'s user interface in its \"factory
settings\" while working through the *Noob to Pro* tutorials. At the
very least, wait until you\'ve mastered the basics before you customize
the interface --- and we know you definitely will when you master it!

