Windows 8.1 has been one of the most-maligned operating systems in recent memory, and, in my opinion, much of what's been written about it has been misguided, unfair, and just plain wrong. The piling-on Microsoft has experienced in the rollout of its new operating system just goes to illustrate the weakness of the technology journlism field. As a tech journalist, I have some advice for tech fans: Don't rely blindly on tech journalists—try it for yourself! Most tech journalists are concerned with one thing: getting lots of page views. And they know that one sure-fire technique is to take a scathing, negative attitude. I even recently saw a tip-list article telling tech journalists how to up their page views, one of which was simply "Be negative." I would link the article, but its title doesn't meet PCMag's family-friendly standards.
The number-one whipping boy for this sort of click-bait negativity is Microsoft. Perhaps it's payback for the company's 90s-era monopolistic shenanigans or for some of its technology misfires—Vista, the Kin phone, the Zune...the list goes on, admittedly. But it's clear to me that the even slickest, best executed, most technologically brilliant, most cost effective product, software, or service, if associated with the name "Microsoft," would still manage to find an army of detractors.
Another factor is that the press exaggerates everything. New York wasn't as dangerous in the 90s as the then mass media would have the world believe: I lived there for the entire decade, riding the subway at all times, and was the victim of just a single failed attempt at pickpocketing during that whole supposedly scary era. The press is an echo chamber that magnifies everything, especially when there's fear involved. And what could be scarier for computer users than an OS paradigm shift?
Which brings me to Windows 8. With its latest operating system, Microsoft has tried to do something that hasn't been done before—create hybrid system software that's equally at home on a tablet as a desktop or laptop PC. And doesn't that make sense? If you could have just one device, a powerful tablet that could do absolutely everything that a desktop computer could, wouldn't you want that?
Again, despite everything you've heard, Windows 8 is not hard to use—once you've got just a few new habits under your belt. Here's my cheat sheet on how to run Windows 8 and 8.1 like a boss, so that you'll never want to look back to Windows 7 or, gasp, the more-than-a-decade-old XP. All this is not to say that you will feel instantly at home with Windows 8, so don't expect to race around it the first time you try it. But after some exploration and familiarization, you may just find that it offers a superior computing experience.
1. Think of the tiled Start page as a full-screen Start button. Because that's exactly what it is. Just as with the old Start button, you can simply start typing to show programs that begin with the letters you type, and launch them without having to scroll across tile screens. You can customize this page to your heart's content, grouping tiles and placing your most frequently used ones on the first page. Finally, know that tiles are not just for new-style full-screen mobile apps: Any standard Windows desktop application you've been using for years can also get a tile that you can place wherever you like on the Start page for easy access.
2. The Desktop is a Tile. If you worry that you want Windows to keep looking and working like Windows 7, just tap that tile on the Start screen labeled "Desktop." You'll right away feel at home. And there are always numerous was to quickly get back to the Start screen from anything you're doing on a Windows 8.1 PC: The easiest are to just move the cursor to the lower-left corner of the screen, where the new-style Start button will appear, or tap the Windows key. If your comfort level demands it, Windows 8.1 lets you boot right to the desktop, through Control Panel's Taskbar and Navigation Properties dialog. There you'll also find a choice (also new in 8.1) to use the same background for Start as for the desktop.
2. The Desktop is a Tile. If you worry that you want Windows to keep looking and working like Windows 7, just tap that tile on the Start screen labeled "Desktop." You'll right away feel at home. And there are always numerous was to quickly get back to the Start screen from anything you're doing on a Windows 8.1 PC: The easiest are to just move the cursor to the lower-left corner of the screen, where the new-style Start button will appear, or tap the Windows key. If your comfort level demands it, Windows 8.1 lets you boot right to the desktop, through Control Panel's Taskbar and Navigation Properties dialog. There you'll also find a choice (also new in 8.1) to use the same background for Start as for the desktop.
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