Windows 8 : The Classic Interface - Start Me Up, Desktop Elements

1. Start Me Up

The tile-based interface starts by default when you install Windows 8. This is by design, because the tile-based interface works best on mobile devices, and the world of computing looks increasingly mobile. But the Desktop, which is the classic Windows interface, is only a click or two away.

To launch the Desktop

• If there are open windows, press +D (for Desktop) to close the windows and show only the Desktop. Press +D a second time to see the Desktop with all open windows restored.

Press to toggle between the Start screen interface and the Desktop.

• On the Start screen, tap or click the Desktop tile .

 Places in the tile-based interface that take you to the Desktop

• On the Start screen, tap or click a tile for a legacy application or web page; that item opens on the Desktop.

• On the Start screen, tap or click the lower-left corner of the screen to toggle between the tile-based interface and the Desktop.

• On the Start screen, tap or click the upper-left corner of the display, and cycle through the icons until you can tap or click the Desktop icon.

2. Desktop Elements

The Desktop contains many of the common elements that you’ve grown to know and love: a taskbar, viewable toolbars, icons. Let’s take a look at what these features do.

 The Desktop

• Icons represent objects in the file system; you will generally put special folders or program icons on the Desktop.

• Desktop wallpaper is a graphic—for show, of course.

• Gadgets are little tools or utilities that you add to the Desktop for additional functionality.

• The Desktop switch is a button in the lower-right corner that switches from the tile-based interface to the Desktop. (You see the button only when your mouse button is down.)

• The Notification area shows icons of various utilities (usually system utilities); it was once called the Status tray.

• Toolbars contain related commands or objects that you can place on the taskbar.

• The taskbar is a container for toolbars and the Notifications area.

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The Desktop Management Menu

Although the Start menu is gone (sigh), Windows 8 does come with the Desktop Management menu .

The Desktop Management menu contains many of the important commands once found on the Start menu in Windows 7.

To open the Desktop Management menu:

• Right-click the lower-right corner of the Desktop.

The top section of this menu is a list of a few important control panels you will want to open frequently: Programs and Features, Power Options, and Systems—as well as Control Panel itself, which lists the control panels by type.

Other choices open dialog boxes based on an extensible framework called the Microsoft Management Console (MMC), including Device Manager, Disk Management, and Computer Management. Toss in a few important commands like Run (+R), Search (+F), and Windows Explorer (+E), and you have what is essentially a stripped-down Start menu.

You might think that the Desktop is an application, because it launches from a tile in the tile-based interface, but it is not. The Desktop is a shell—specifically, a graphical user interface (GUI). In that regard, it is the same thing that the tile-based interface is.

When you install Windows 8, the Desktop tile is placed in another group lower down the screen . The tile has been moved to the upper-left position, which leads me to one of my favorite tips: To move a tile, tap and hold it, and then drag it to a new position; or with the mouse, just drag it.

Tip

Press Enter in the tile-based interface to open the upper-left tile .