After you log on, you’ll see the Windows 8 Start screen, shown in Figure 1.
The Start screen serves much the same function as the Start menu in
previous versions of Windows. Square or rectangular tiles give you
quick access to apps, external resources such as SkyDrive, folders, and
even the desktop. The Start screen shows the look of the new Windows 8
interface.
FIGURE 1 Windows Start screen
Using the Windows Desktop
As mentioned, the Windows desktop is
the electronic equivalent of a real desktop. It’s the place where you
keep stuff you’re working on right now. Every program that’s currently
open is usually contained within some program window. When no programs
are open, the desktop and all your desktop icons are plainly visible on
the screen.
What’s on the desktop
Users upgrading from previous Windows versions are familiar with the Windows desktop,
the primary place for users to start their work in earlier versions of
Windows. The term “desktop” was used to describe computer environment
that played the same role as a real work desktop. You worked with
programs on the Windows desktop in much the same way as you work with
paper on an office desktop. With Windows 8, the Start screen replaces
the desktop as the primary work environment. However, the Windows
desktop can still be used to launch pinned applications and
applications that install icons to the desktop.
The desktop is accessed from the Start screen by
clicking the Desktop tile. The desktop may get covered by program
windows and other items, but the desktop is still under there no matter
how much you clutter the screen. It’s the same as a real desk in that
sense. Although your real desktop may be completely covered by random
junk (as mine is right now), your desktop is still under there
somewhere. You just have to dig through the mess to get to it.
The two main components of the Windows desktop
are the desktop itself and the taskbar. The desktop is where everything
that you open piles up. The taskbar’s main role is to make it easy to
switch from one open item to another. Everything you’ll ever see on
your screen has a name and a purpose. Virtually nothing on the screen
is there purely for decoration (except the wallpaper). Figure 2
shows the main components of the Windows desktop and other items. Your
desktop might not look exactly like the picture and might not show all
of the components. But don’t worry about that. Right now, you want to
focus on learning the names of the most frequently used elements.
Here’s a quick overview of what each component represents.
- Desktop: The desktop itself is everything above the taskbar. Most programs you open appear in a window on the desktop.
- Desktop icons: Icons on the desktop
provide quick access to frequently used programs, folders, and
documents. You can add and remove desktop icons as you see fit.
- Power menu: The power menu displays
at the bottom left of the desktop in the same place that the Start menu
previously displayed. The power menu provides access to commonly used
Windows programs and apps. To see it, right-click the bottom left side
of the screen, or press Windows+X.
- Taskbar: A task is an open program.
The taskbar makes switching among all your open programs easy.
Right-clicking the clock in the taskbar provides easy access to options
for customizing the taskbar and organizing open program windows.
- Notification area: Displays icons for programs running in the background, often referred to as processes and services. Messages coming from those programs appear in speech balloons just above the Notification area.
- Clock: Shows the current time and date.
That’s the quick tour of items on and around the
Windows 8 desktop. The sections that follow examine some of these items
in detail.
About desktop icons
Desktop icons represent a closed object that you can open
by double-clicking the icon. Most desktop icons are shortcuts to files
and folders. They’re shortcuts in the sense that they duplicate icons
that are available elsewhere, such as on the Start screen.
Rules always have exceptions. When it comes to
desktop icons, the Recycle Bin is the exception. The Recycle Bin icon
exists only on the desktop, and you won’t find it anywhere else. The
role of the Recycle Bin is that of a safety net. Whenever you delete a
file or folder from your hard drive, the item is actually just moved to
the Recycle Bin. You can restore an accidentally deleted item from the
Recycle Bin back to its original location.
In addition to the Recycle Bin, you have other
built-in desktop icons from which to choose. If you want to take a shot
at adding icons, you have to get to the Personalization page and make
some selections. To get to the Personalization page, use one of the
following methods:
- Shows the Charms Bar, click Search, and type pers. Click Settings and then click Personalization on the Settings screen.
- Right-click the desktop and choose Personalize.
Note
If you don’t see Personalize when you
right-click the desktop, that means you didn’t right-click the desktop.
You right-clicked something that’s covering the desktop.
The Personalization Control Panel applet opens. In its left column, click Change Desktop Icons. You see a dialog box like the one in Figure 3.
It’s called a “dialog” box because you carry on a sort of dialog with
it. It shows you options from which you can pick and choose. You make
your choices and click OK.
To make an icon visible on your desktop, select
(click to put a checkmark in) the check box next to the icon’s name. To
prevent an icon from appearing on the desktop, click the check box to
the left of its name to deselect it (remove the checkmark). In the
figure, I’ve opted to see all icons except the Network and Control
Panel icons.
You can choose a different picture for any icon
you’ve opted to show on the desktop. Click the icon’s picture in the
middle of the dialog box. Then click the Change Icon button. Click the
icon you want to show and then click OK. If you change your mind after
the fact, click Restore Default.
Click OK after making your selections. The dialog
box closes and the icons you choose appear on the desktop. However, you
might not see them if that part of the desktop is covered by something
that’s open. Don’t worry about that.
If nothing is covering the desktop, but you still
don’t see any desktop icons, they might just be switched off. We cover
this topic in the next section.
Arranging desktop icons
There
are many ways to customize the Windows 8 desktop. But if you just want
to make some quick, minor changes to your desktop icons, right-click
the desktop to view its shortcut menu. Items on the menu that have a
little arrow to the right show submenus. For example, if you
right-click the desktop and point to View on the menu, you see the View
menu, as shown in Figure 4.
The second to last item on the View menu, Show
Desktop Items, needs to be selected (checked) for the icons to show at
all. If no checkmark appears next to that item, click that item. The
menu closes and the icons appear on the desktop. When you need to see
the menu again, just right-click the desktop again.
The top three items on the menu — Large Icons,
Medium Icons, and Small Icons — control the size of the icons. Click
any option to see its effect. If you don’t like the result, right-click
the desktop again, choose View, and choose a different size.
Tip
If your mouse has a wheel, you can also
size icons by holding down the Ctrl key as you spin the mouse wheel.
This gives you an almost endless range of icon sizes from which to
choose. Use one of the three items in the View menu to get them back to
one of the three default sizes.
The Sort By option on the desktop shortcut menu
enables you to arrange desktop icons alphabetically by Name, Size, Item
Type, or Date Modified. However, no matter how you choose to sort
icons, the built-in icons are sorted separately from those you create.
