Introduction
Windows 8 is officially here, and, more so than any version in recent times, it really is the Windows world reinvented. It's clear from your very first click.
Maybe you’ve just started running Windows 8 on a spanking-new PC and have been poking around inside it; maybe you just updated your existing laptop or desktop. If so, you've probably worked your way through Windows' few basic tutorials, and you know the rudiments of 8's new normal, such as how to mouse/swipe around the all-new Start screen or expose the essential Charms bar. But there’s more—far, far more!—to the new OS beneath the surface that's unlike any Windows you've used before.
There's a big learning curve, too. To be sure, whatever you think of it, Windows 8 is undeniably…different. It poses challenges for those of us used to the relative comforts of Windows 7 and XP. The familiar Windows desktop is still around, and it works much the same as it always did (minus, as been mourned for months, the old-style Start menu). But the new Start screen and tiled interface present wholly new ways of organizing and launching your applications and files—as well as a whole new way to think about Windows. Our take? Windows 8 should really be called "Windows 4+4," because it bridges—and forces you to contend with—two very different worlds: the familiar Windows desktop world, and a new Windows apps world.
Managing and customizing Windows is a different ballgame in 8, as well. Many of the new commands and features in Windows 8 are hidden or difficult to find, so it’s easy to get lost trying to figure out where and how to perform specific tasks. The actual input devices you use with Windows 8 matter, too, much more so than with any previous Windows switchover. Tablet users can swipe their way around the Start screen and Windows 8 apps with their touch-sensitive displays, but PC users face challenges unprecedented in a new Windows version. Unless you’ve bought a new Windows 8 PC equipped with a touch screen, you’ll have to rely on a trusty mouse and keyboard. And that’s not always easy in Windows 8, given that Microsoft specifically designed it to take advantage of touch-screen tablets, laptops, all-in-one PCs, and hybrid devices.
Don’t worry, though. We’ve compiled 50 key power-user tips guaranteed to ease your way around Windows 8 on your desktop or laptop. The tips are organized into seven sections, accessible from the table of contents above. We’ve assumed you’ve mastered the most basic Windows 8 actions, such as swiping in from the right side of your screen (or mousing to the top-right corner) to access the Charms bar (the vertical strip of icons that's a gateway to loads of crucial functions), or swiping in from the left side of the screen to switch between open applications.
Because Windows 8 is such a significant interface change, it serves up more than its share of quirks and mysteries to new and experienced Windows users alike. But with a little bit of time and patience—and the tips on the following pages—you'll start to feel far more at home in Microsoft’s latest operating system. You just need to get experimenting, swiping, and clicking—let us be your guide.
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