How do you draw a curve in Inkscape?

arcs:
http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Shapes-Arcs.html
postioning and transforming
http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Transforms.html

Many thanks for your quick answer. However, I already know how to do this. What I was wondering about was how to create a curved line with a number of points along it that you can move to the shape you want, yet keeping the overall line smooth. This is moreorless do-able in Paint. Is it in Inkscape?

spiro paths

Bezier tool in Spiro mode..

http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Paths-Creating.html#Paths-Bezier

Have a look at

° Auto-Smooth Nodes
<http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Paths-Editing.html#Paths-Node-AutoSmooth>

or

° Sculpting Nodes
<http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Paths-Editing.html#Paths-Node-Sculpting>

Following the instructions at the url provided by vwanweb, the program does not behave as the instructions describe.

With the Bezier tool, a click and drag does, indeed create a straight grey line, but on releasing the mouse button, no circle appears at the end of the line as shown in the instructions. When I move the mouse, a red line does appear, as stated in the instructions, but not as a curve from my first point, but as another straight line from the point at which I released the mouse button.

I don't doubt that people are able to create curves using this tool, but we need instructions that tell us how.

In a package like MS Visio it is simple, straightforward and intuitive to create straight lines, then move nodes on the lines to smoothly shape curves of varying shapes to your own requirements. Why has Inkscape made it so unclear and complicated to do the same thing?

Is there another set of instructions for the Bezier tool that actually correspond to how the tool behaves?