Windows
8’s lock screen
In Windows 8, your computer will boot,
popping up lock screen which is seen in Windows RT tablet, too. To remove lock
screen, you need to slide onto touchscreen or press a key on the board. This
will reveal user accounts that have been configured on the device, similar to
what you used to see on previous Windows versions.
The lock screen shows date plus time and
your custom app’s info (Weather or Mail, for example). Many third-party apps
come up with this feature.
Windows
8’s Start screen
Old Start disappeared, even on Classic
background. Now it is replaced by Modern UI which is considered as entire
screen’s Start menu. Don’t give up on it in case you are not accustomed. Just spend
some minutes navigating and discovering things.
Start screen is well designed, delivering more
information at first sight. Some Tiles display direct info and inform you of forecast
without requiring you to enter Weather app or enable you to read titles without
opening browser.
You can move Tiles by holding and dragging
them to places. Then, surrounding apps will automatically rearrange themselves.
Some of them may become smaller or bigger.
A new Tile is created for each installed app.
You can add Tiles in form of shortcut to existing apps, including legacy ones. When
the screen starts adding, you need to scroll rightward to see full list of apps
or pinch to zoom out and find app.
If your PC doesn’t have any touch-screen, hold
Ctrl key and scroll you mouse’s wheel to zoom in/you. Plus, the same process
can be carried out on laptop via Ctrl key with +/- key.
In view zoomed out, clicking a group of
Tiles lets you move them into a new position. Right-clicking it offers you to an
option of renaming the group. In view zoomed in, pulling one tile among groups
creates a new group.
In standard UI with cursor, scrolling wheel
will move the screen sideways until you click on vertical information box for,
list of emails or websites. This lets you wander around Modern UI without much
mess or buying new hardware stuff like Microsoft’s Touch Mouse.
Admitted by Microsoft, it can be denied
that touch sensitivity is most concerned, in Windows 8. The operating system is
not much fast or interesting when used with mouse and keyboard. However, shortcut
keys make compensation.
Windows
8 Search
To show list of all apps installed, slide
upward (from bottom) or right-click in order to bring out Options bar lying
below then choose All apps.
To have a neat shortcut, if you know what
you are looking for, just type its name on Start screen. This will open Search
box then you can filter your results in Apps, Settings or Files.
You can search for a specific app (Internet
Explorer for instance) by clicking or typing app’s name in Search box.
Windows
8 Search
Modern-UI-styled
windows
Clicking or tapping on an app will open it
in full-screen mode. Dragging from the top then from the left/right to resize
app’s window and fit it in a small sideways column. The rest of screen’s space
is room for the second app. To change apps’ positions, user is required to drag
the bar, which is separating them, to the left/right.
This operation is much more limited than
conventional one which allows you to open as many windows as you like, in any
cases. However, on Windows 8 tablet, viewing two apps concurrently is an
undiscovered field.
For instance, you can place Twitter or Mail
in a small column while continuing any main task which are carried out in main
screen. Through this way, you will see new tweets or emails instantly. Windows
8’s notifications functions similarly though they only pop up for a while.
There’re ways to switch apps. The easiest
is via Windows short key, Tab, to show a vertical list of apps. To select a running
app on screen, use Alt, Tab and cursor.
On the touchscreen, you need to drag from
the left to bring out list of apps. In case you are using a mouse, point it to
left or bottom-left area on screen then move up or down to view the list.
Many
Modern-UI-styled windows
Windows
8’s Charm bar
Charm bar is a new feature. It turns up
when you slide your finger from the screen’s right edge or point cursor at left
or bottom-left area of the screen.
From top (of Charm bar), you’ll find Search,
Share, Start, Devices and Settings.
Search Charm is a replacement for search
box in Windows 7/Vista yet it is more powerful.
Share Charm lets you share items, with available
options depending on apps. More share options will be available when you
install content-sharing apps, such as Twitter.
Start Charm bring you back to Start screen
(if you are in an app) or switch to recent app (when you are already in Start
screen).
Tap or click Devices Charm to display connected
devices. Printer, speaker, display and network devices will be listed. You can
click on one of them to change its setting or deploy its abilities.
Finally, Settings Charm gives you access to
configurations involving Wi-Fi, volume, brightness and notification. It also
links to new well-arranged control panel which is simply dubbed Settings. Tapping
on Settings Charm shows specific settings for current app thus you will see common
options, like Help and About, for most apps but Accounts option, for instance,
for Mail app.
Shortcut
keys in Windows 8
Alt + 4: close
current app. You can click on top of the app and move it to the screen’s bottom
Windows + C:
open Charm bar
Windows + D:
reveal classic background; repress to minimize all windows on the screen
Windows + H:
open Share Charm
Windows + I:
open Settings Charm
Windows + L:
lock the device
Windows + Q:
open Search Charm which is set up for any app that is being used. You can
quickly move to a search option for file with Windows + F or setting with
Windows + W.
Windows + X:
open administration menu
Windows + Z:
display list of apps and options specialized for each app
Windows
8’s performance
In Windows 8, web pages are loaded faster
than they used to be in any Windows 7’s browser. In fact, given the same
hardware configuration, Windows 8 generally runs faster than Windows 7. Fast
interface, fast loaded apps and fast shutdown/startup!
On an old Sony Vaio (featuring Core 2 Duo
processor and 3GB of RAM), Windows 8 starts in 21 sec and shuts down in 20 sec.
This is such a considerable improvement while Windows 7 took 56 sec and 43 sec
for startup and shutdown respectively.
