Windows 8 tip number 1 - The Start Screen

One of the big issues people will have with Windows 8 is it is so different to what they are used to. For me, not being able to go direct to the Desktop, no Start button and no Start menu, was certainly a shock to the system and a productivity killer.

However all you need to do is to change the way you think about things just a little and the whole problem just vanishes.

Think of the Start screen as a very big Start button.

That’s all really. Once you think of the Start screen as the Start button then the Start Menu is the contents of the Start Screen, or at least your most commonly used items.

People generally either start a program by clicking on the program in the Start menu, double clicking on a shortcut on their Desktop, and some may even start the program they have pinned to the Taskbar.

Normally when your computer starts in Windows XP through to Windows 7 you see the Desktop and start a program. Now with Windows 8 the Start screen appears and to start your program you click on a tile for the program. Move your most popular programs to the left of the Start screen and you have almost instant access to your main programs. The Desktop will automatically open and the program run.

 

You can still create shortcuts on your Desktop and pin programs to the taskbar and that can help make things move along quicker. But if you haven’t, a single press of the Windows key when in Desktop mode flips you to the Start screen. Press the Windows key again and you’ll toggle back to the Desktop. The only time this doesn’t work is when you haven’t first started the Desktop.

Until I thought of the Start screen as a really big Start button to me it was a nuisance and just got in the way. Once I changed how I thought about the Start screen the issue disappeared. Nothing needed to be changed except how to view things.

Yep the Start button is gone from the Desktop (you can move your mouse to the very bottom left and the Start screen image will appear for you to click) but pressing the Windows key to me is faster anyway.

We all tend to hate change and grumble when faced with it. But look back and if you’re a Windows 7, Vista, or XP user, just remember you once used Windows 98, 95 and Windows 3.x, and the fact you don’t even think about them now is the same as you won’t think about Windows 8 user interface in the near future, you’ll just use it.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for computer support.
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