Windows 8/8.1 was Microsoft s attempt to have one operating system for all devices desktops, laptops, phones, tablets, and everything else. Some like it more than others. Microsoft Windows 10 is supposed to arrive later this year. The Start Screen is the biggest change from Windows 7 in Windows 8/8.1. Instead of a blank desktop, square spaces are for new tiles. Tiles are just differently displayed application icons. Some tiles, called live tiles, automatically get information like sports scores, news, or weather from the Internet. When tiles are on the start screen, they are called pinned. You might also hear people refer to tiles as apps, applications, or programs. Right click anywhere in here to name groups, double click in here when done Tiles come in four shapes: small, medium, wide, and large. The red outlined tiles are live tiles. If you re not there already, get to the desktop by clicking the Desktop tile (keyboard shortcut Windows+D), or hit the Esc keyboard key. Hit the Windows key to get back to the start screen. Reorganize tiles by simply dragging them to new positions. Remove a tile from the start screen by right clicking it and then click Unpin from Start. Put an application on the desktop by right clicking it and then click Pin to taskbar. Change the size of a tile by right clicking it, click Resize, then click the size you want. Stop a live tile such as Photos from updating or automatically downloading headlines, weather, etc. from the Internet by right clicking it, then click Turn live tile off. Create a group of applications by dragging a tile into some blank space toward the right of the screen until you see a big white bar. When you see that bar, release the tile. It will plop down into a separate group. Once that group is created, you can drag in other apps. Give the group a name by right clicking above the top row of tiles, then click Name groups. Once done editing groups, double left click any blank space above the top.
To uninstall an application, right click its tile and then click Uninstall (this may not be available for all applications). Turn off your computer by clicking the power button and then Shut down. (not pictured) The Apps view is the replacement for the All programs menu that has been in Windows since Windows XP. It shows all of the applications you have installed, including the modern applications that open in the new full screen view and the traditional applications that open in the familiar desktop. Move your mouse down toward the bottom left corner of the start screen and then click the down arrow that should appear. From this menu, you can uninstall applications or pin them to the start screen or the desktop taskbar, just like we did on the Start Screen. By default, the Apps view is organized by name and shows an A-Z list of modern applications and then an A-Z list of traditional applications. You can click the drop down arrow to pick different ways to organize the display of your applications. Scroll left or right to find an application You can also use the search box or the shortcut Windows+S to search for an app. Press the up arrow in the bottom left corner to go back to the start screen. Single left click on the Photos app in the Apps view or the Start Screen to open. Clicking on it in either place does the same thing. Wait a few seconds for the app to fully load. To close any modern app, move your mouse to the top edge of the screen to make the menu bar appear, and then click the x in the top right corner.
The Desktop is very similar to previous versions of Windows. You can still double click icons on the desktop or single click icons in the taskbar. All of your traditional applications should still work. The background and many other options are still customizable. To get to the desktop from the Start Screen, click the Desktop tile, or use the keyboard shortcut Windows+D. Double click these icons to open them Single click to open these Windows 8.1 on the left, XP on the right. Other than the background, they re very similar. Differences between the Windows 8.1 desktop and previous versions of Windows include: The taskbar (bar across the bottom of the screen) allows you to pin icons for programs you use often. It will also highlight applications you have open. There is no Start menu in the bottom left corner (in the taskbar). The new Start button which replaced the Start menu takes you back to the Start screen. Some desktop applications like Solitaire, Hearts, and Minesweeper, have been replaced with versions you have to download through the new Windows Store. Charms accessed through the 4 corners are on the desktop. (More on them later.) Quickly switch to the last program you were in other than the desktop by clicking the exact top left corner of your screen. (Unless you ve closed all other programs.) Right click an icon in the taskbar to see options. The File Explorer *(pictured next page) is one of the major changes to the Windows 8/8.1 desktop. File Explorer is the small application you see all over the place when you re opening, renaming, uploading, downloading, saving, deleting or doing other things to files. File Explorer has been in Windows for a while, but the latest version of it is significantly different. To open File Explorer, click the manila file folder icon (pictured above) Click Downloads toward the upper left for a good example. On the left side of the screen below the controls at the top, there are links to go to different folders on your computer, like usual. Like usual, at the bottom is a bar where you can see how many files are in a folder, etc.
Navigation links Windows 8.1 In the middle is where files are displayed, like usual. Above that is your current folder. What is unusual about file explorer is the top part. Like versions of Microsoft Office since 2007, the Windows 8.1 File Explorer has a ribbon at the top. You may have to double click on the button to the right of File (usually Computer or Home ) to bring up this new part. The ribbon is a menu that shows lots of buttons and options that may have previously been sort of hidden in right click menus. Depending on what you re doing in File Explorer, different tabs, groups and commands (buttons) appear. Buttons may be greyed out (unclickable) if you can t do anything with them at a certain time. Current folder the ribbon Double click icons in here to open most everywhere else in File Explorer requires single Where files and searches are displayed The Windows 8.1 File Explorer, including files, tabs, groups, and commands in the ribbon. In terms of Windows 8.1, Charms are not magic tricks, or a class Harry Potter goes to. Charms are menus that slide out from the four sides of your screen. Think of them as new-fangled right click menus. They list options, settings, actions you can do. Charms are accessed by swiping from the edges of touchscreens toward the middle, using keyboard shortcuts, or mousing into the corners of your screen. For desktop users, charms can be really really annoying. If you accidentally move into any of the four corners of you screen and then move away, the right or left charms may appear.
Move your mouse to the middle of your screen to get out of a charm. The left charm is for switching apps, seeing open apps, and closing apps. The right charm is for a whole bunch of things, including search, sharing (social networking), viewing and changing settings, and managing devices. Some applications will have charms that slide out from the top and bottom, but the left and right charms are the main ones. These top and bottom charms are less annoying because they are harder to accidentally open. But they still hide buttons you may need. To prepare, hit the Windows key to go to the start screen. Open the Photos application again, hit the Windows key to go to the start screen, and then click on the desktop tile. You can access the left charm (pictured left) by moving into the exact top or bottom left corner of your screen and then move toward the middle of the right edge of the screen. The left charm is a special one exclusively for switching between different applications. The shortcuts in the left charm often change, but if you need to get back to the desktop, there is often a button for that. Everything in the desktop gets one button, while open modern apps get a button each. Switch to an app in the left charm by single left clicking it. Close an app by right clicking it and then clicking close. Access the right charm (pictured right) by moving into the exact top or bottom right corner of your screen and then move toward the middle of the right edge of the screen. On touch screens, swipe from the right edge of the screen toward the middle. The right charm includes buttons for search, sharing, settings, and devices menus along with a shortcut to get to the start screen. The settings menu includes volume, brightness, WiFi, and shutting down your device. Left click any of the options to access them. Each will bring up additional screens with more controls. Click anywhere in this general area Some applications also use the top and bottom edges for charm menus. Click the start button on the desktop or hit the Windows key on your keyboard to get to the Start screen. Open the Photos application. Right click on any blank space and the top and bottom charm menus will appear. Click in any blank space to exit this charm menu. Each application will have different customized buttons and options in top and/or bottom charms.
Internet Explorer now has two versions. One opens up as a traditional application on the desktop, the other opens in the modern full screen view. They look quite a bit different, but essentially the modern Internet Explorer is an upside down version of traditional Internet Explorer. http://www.eapl.org or search for ela library typing either is fine in this bar. IE desktop version (left), IE modern version (right) Like Google Chrome, Internet Explorer modern has a universal search/address bar where you can either type in a web address or do a search. By default, it will search Microsoft s Bing. Hit the Windows key to get to the Start Screen and then either hit the desktop tile or use the keyboard shortcut Windows+D to get to the desktop. Single left click the blue e in the bottom left corner. Internet Explorer will open up. In the top bar, where it says http://eapl.org or about:blank, delete everything and go to a website you use, like Google.com, or Yahoo.com. Hit the Windows key to get back to the start screen. Click Internet Explorer. In the bottom bar, where it says eapl.org or about:blank, type in an address like AOL.com. The Taskbar is the horizontal menu that goes all the way across your screen on the bottom. It includes a Windows button to go to the start screen, shortcuts to applications, and the system tray (which shows power, WiFi/network, volume icons and date/time). Hit Windows+D to go to the Desktop. The old taskbar The new taskbar start button, shortcuts to apps, open apps, and the system tray. Right click any of the application shortcuts in the taskbar to see options in jump lists. The Windows 8.1 start button takes you to the start screen rather than the start menu as in previous versions of Windows.
Searching your device is easy in Windows 8.1. From the desktop or start screen, either use the keyboard shortcut Windows+S or open the right charm by moving into the exact top or bottom right corner of your screen and then move toward the middle of the right edge of the screen and then left click the magnifying glass. From the start screen, you can just start typing what you re looking for, and Windows 8.1 will automatically start searching for you. Windows 8.1 search simultaneously searches installed programs, files, settings (not pictured), and gives suggestions for web searches (using Bing, not Google) and Windows Store applications to download. Single left click on any result to open it up. You may need to do multiple searches, or try specifying where to search. To do that, click on the arrow next to the default ( everywhere ) and then click on either everywhere, settings, files, images, videos. The Windows Store is where Microsoft wants you to go to download applications. Some applications are free and some are paid. You can still install programs from CDs or from files downloaded from the Internet. You are not required to give Microsoft credit card information as long as you don t download any paid applications. All Windows Store applications open up in the modern full screen view. Use the Microsoft account and password that you log in to your computer with to sign in to the Windows store.
Advanced: Troubleshooting and Learning Windows 8.1 is easier than you think. You may have a Help+Tips application installed which can help you learn a few things. Access it through the start screen or the apps view. But that application might not cover everything. Lots of people use Windows 8.1. And some of them post about it online. You can see what problems they had and how they solved them. Open up a web browser like Internet Explorer, and search for: windows 8.1 [brief description of your problem] There will be a lot of results for this type of search. Click on any pages that seem relevant, and read them to see if they actually address your problem. You can also do the same sort of searches for things you simply do not know. windows 8.1 shut down