Latest in windows 8

My original horror story when first upgrading to Windows 8 was having no idea how to comfortably launch applications anymore. By default, there is no Quick Launch toolbar and the Start Menu has been gutted to the point where it's almost foreign. Thanks to some third-party tweaks and advice, both issues aren't very hard to fix. Even if you prefer the new style Windows has taken on in the latest version of their OS, let it be known that there are applications out there that can ease the pain of launching your most commonly-used files, folders, and applications.
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Microsoft’s new operating system has taken a radically new approach to the user interface. It’’s sleek, it’s simple - and it’s controversial. Some software developers are already learning from what Microsoft has done and packaging it into their own software. Bitdefender’s Windows 8 Security is an excellent example. It performs the same function as previous versions of software, and is just as effective. But it is also attractive, friendly and extremely easy to approach.
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Windows 8 is shiny and new, bringing an entirely new and different application model and ecosystem. No matter how experienced you are at troubleshooting previous versions of Windows, you won’t be fully prepared to start troubleshooting Windows 8 when you first sit down with it. We’ve gathered some Windows 8 app troubleshooting tips. This is all still new to everyone, so this isn’t the ultimate guide to troubleshooting Windows 8 apps. That will come later.
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Whatever you think of Windows 8 (at MakeUseOf, our opinions are mixed), it’s certainly speedy. Windows 8 boots faster than previous versions of Windows, has lower memory usage, and has a desktop that feels nice and snappy. Like all versions of Windows, Windows 8 has a variety of settings you can tweak to speed things up and make it even faster. Some of the tips here also apply to previous versions of Windows, but Windows 8 has some new tricks up its sleeve.
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With your shiny new Windows 8 device or upgrade booted up, tiles gleaming at you and winking with useful information, you might take a few moments having a look around before you get the chance to look at the email client. I should add here that not all versions of Windows 8 come with the Microsoft Mail client pre-installed. It really depends on the version and the manufacturer of your Windows 8 computer.
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Windows 8 brought down the axe on the Start Menu. This is a feature that no one paid special attention to for years but its untimely demise has caused all sorts of despair. Not only because it’s gone but also because its replacement is the Windows 8 Start Screen. I have good news. The official Start Menu is dead, but there’s a number of ways to re-create it.
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Libraries, found in Windows 7 and 8. are more than a list of suggested folders for saving documents, music, pictures, and video. Customizing your libraries isn’t just tweaking for the sake of tweaking – with libraries, you can streamline the way you organize your files and make yourself more productive. If you’ve ignored libraries so far and opted to organize your files the traditional way, be sure to give libraries a try.
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If you’ve installed Windows 8 and found yourself wishing that you could go back to Windows 7 or another operating system, there’s a way to do this. If you installed Windows 8 in a dual-boot environment and kept your old operating system around, it’s not too hard – but if you’ve installed Windows 8 over your old operating system, you’ll have to reinstall the old operating system from scratch.
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When Microsoft unveiled Windows 8, one of the most interesting things about it was the new iteration of Internet Explorer. If viewed via the Start screen, the slimmed-down browser offers maximum space for viewing web pages thanks to the position of buttons and the address bar striped across the bottom of the screen (where people don’t usually read). It’s a fascinating new approach, but Internet Explorer 10 is apparently low on features and options.
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Are you interested in Windows 8, but don’t want to abandon Windows 7 just yet? Well, why not dual-boot Windows 8 and Windows 7, selecting the operating system you want to use each time you turn on your computer? This allows you to test Windows 8 while keeping Windows 7 around as an escape hatch if you want out. This process will install Windows 8 on its own separate partition, leaving your Windows 7 system intact.
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If you haven’t installed Windows 8 yet; don’t worry, we’re technology writers - it’s our job to test these things out for you. Quite a few MakeUseOf staff including myself have taken the plunge and upgraded to Windows 8 now - and had the chance to play with newer touchscreen models too - so let’s take a summary look at what everyone thinks of it.
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It’s very square, Windows 8, don’t you think? Those tiles have such defined lines – edges you could almost cut yourself on – and impressions of the whole user experience seem to change from person to person. Depending on your needs and requirements, Windows 8 is either a white elephant or a superb piece of finger-focused modern UI design. However, it remains as tweakable as previous versions of Windows, just in other ways.
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It’s been three years since Microsoft launched Office 2010. Released alongside online versions (Microsoft Office Web Apps) of its popular applications, the jewel in the crown of the suite was, of course, Microsoft Word. Offering some minor improvements to the user interface following the introduction of the ribbon menu in Word 2007, the 2010 release looks very much like its predecessor. With Word 2013, however, things are slightly different.
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A decent calendar service is indispensable. No matter what alternative I tried using - Windows Live, iCloud - I've always turned back to Google Calendar. It's easy to use, and widely supported. Even most (desktop and mobile) operating systems now provide out-of-the-box support. However, for some unknown reason, synchronising multiple calendars has always been at least a bit tricky to set up. It's no different for Windows 8.
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If you decided to follow the same path as me, you went ahead and upgraded to Windows 8 the first week it dropped. So far, I've had mixed feelings about the OS. I upgraded my dedicated gaming desktop from Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 8 Pro and it's been quite an adjustment. Weeks later, I'm finally getting everything settled in. Naturally, there are going to be some issues along the way.
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