In this section:
The big news for Windows 8 is all about the interface. The main interface is the Start screen, a brand-new look and approach. The Start screen is simple and clean in appearance. Rather than having a Start menu from which you open programs and settings, you have a set of tiles on the screen. Click a tile, and an application (now called an app) opens.
To find apps not represented by tiles on the Start screen, use a great new search feature; simply start typing the name of an app, file, or setting on the Start screen, and a master index of content appears.
To keep the Start screen uncluttered, several useful tools called charms are hidden until you reveal them. Use charms to review common settings, share content, search, and more.
In addition to the Start screen, there is the Windows 8 desktop. This more closely resembles the traditional Windows desktop, minus a Start menu. The desktop provides shortcuts to files and apps as well as a taskbar displaying frequently used programs and settings. You can also access charms from the desktop, and several handy keystroke shortcuts let you move back and forth from the Start screen to desktop.
In this section, you become familiar with both sides of the Windows 8 interface.
When you first turn on your computer or when your computer has fallen asleep after an interval of inactivity, you will see the lock screen. The lock screen displays a pretty picture as well as some information such as time and weather. (See Chapter 5 for how to change this picture and the information displayed on the screen.) At this point, you need to hide the lock screen, choose a user account with which to log on, and enter a password or PIN to get to the Start screen.
You can log on to your computer by using local settings (with no settings coming from the Internet), or you can log on by using a Microsoft Live account. When you use a Live account, which requires that you get a free email account from Microsoft, you enable every Windows device you use to sync settings from your computer and access your documents from anywhere. See Chapter 11, for more about these features.
Moving between the Start screen and desktop is easy, and you’ll find you need to do this for a few reasons. First, there are some settings that are available from the Control Panel that aren’t available in the PC Settings dialog that you access from the Settings charm. In addition, the version of Internet Explorer that you access from the desktop is different from the version you access from the Start screen.
The Start screen is a simple, clean interface that puts the focus on tiles, but there are a few other things going on, such as a scroll bar along the bottom so that you can use to scroll among tiles; an account settings button in the upper-right corner for changing users or account pictures; and charms that you can display whenever you need them.
Tiles make frequently used apps and settings available in a graphical way rather than presenting these options in a menu. If you own a touchscreen device, they’re even more convenient because you can simply tap a tile to open an app. So-called “live” tiles offer up-to-the-minute information for certain apps if you are logged on with a Microsoft Live account. You can easily add, remove, or rearrange tiles on the Start screen. (See Chapter 5 for more about personalizing the Start screen.)
Charms allow you to access features such as Search and sharing, as well as settings for devices and various PC features. There is also a charm that you can click to return to the Start screen from anywhere. When you click the Settings charm, you are taken to a subpanel on which you can access six commonly used settings, such as Volume, or to display the PC Settings panel to access a more complete menu of settings.
The desktop in Windows 8 has many features you will be familiar with if you’ve used previous versions of Windows, such as the desktop background, desktop shortcuts, and the taskbar.
The desktop is useful for accessing the Control Panel from the Settings charm; opening File Explorer from the Quick Access Bar; and changing common settings such as the volume or date and time from icons on the Taskbar.
When you open apps from the desktop, they open in the familiar format of windows. You can move these windows around your screen, and you can minimize, maximize, and resize them. You can even snap windows to the side of the screen so that you can easily display more than one at a time.
Click File Explorer in the desktop taskbar.
Click the title bar of the window, and quickly drag it to the left to “snap” it to the left side of the screen.
Click the title bar and drag the window away from the edge of the screen.
Click a corner and drag inward to reduce the size of the window.
Click to maximize the window.
Click to restore the window to its smaller size.
Click Internet Explorer.
Click the Close button in the upper-right corner to close the windows.
Think of desktop shortcuts as the precursors to tiles on the Start screen. They give you quick access to individual apps or files, and with the loss of the Start menu in Windows 8, they are the only way to get to these items from the desktop aside from browsing for them by using File Explorer. Creating shortcuts is simple.
Tip
If you find you don’t need a shortcut anymore, just right-click it on the desktop and choose Delete. If you’d like to pin the item from a shortcut to the Start screen, right-click the shortcut and choose Pin To Start. To place a shortcut on the desktop taskbar, choose Pin To Taskbar from the same menu.
The desktop taskbar is an area at the bottom of the screen that contains buttons you can click to quickly start frequently used apps as well as buttons for actions you take often, such as displaying the onscreen keyboard, connecting to a network, or adjusting the system volume. If you’re familiar with earlier versions of Windows, you will recognize most of the functions of the taskbar.
Click File Explorer on the Quick Launch portion of the taskbar.
Right-click the taskbar.
Click Properties.
Click Lock The Taskbar to always keep the taskbar on your screen.
Click Taskbar Location On Screen.
Choose a different location.
Click Apply.
Click Taskbar Location On Screen.
Choose Bottom.
Click OK.
File Explorer will be familiar to users of earlier versions of Windows. This feature gives you access to all the drives of your computer, from your hard drive to DVD, external, and USB drives. File Explorer is also the best way to browse the contents of your computer, including libraries, folders, and individual files. To access File Explorer, simply press Windows logo key+E. (See Chapter 10, for more about using File Explorer.)
