microslop wimdows 8

[grizzle]

Sounds like a lenova thing. Getting W8 up and running is stupid simple...

I have to agree.

The tiles on the Start Screen are all easily usable apps (like smartphone apps, or iPad apps), and the regular desktop is used just like it always has, for design tools and other programs, minus the Start Button.

It's that lack of Start Button, and re-learning how to do some things using the tiles on the Start Screen (and how to engage the tiles using mouse+keyboard instead of touch), and the charms on the right side, that is a steep learning curve. It will take a few days to adjust, to be sure, and there will be some frustrations, but once you get the hang of it, it works pretty well.

A few tips:
- On the Start Screen, whichever tile is placed in the very top left can be accessed by just hitting the Enter key. I place my Desktop tile there, so when Windows first boots up, or any other time I'm on the Start Screen, and want to quickly get back to the Desktop, I just hit enter.
- Learn the Windows key shortcuts. I know, I know - the Windows key has been on our keyboards for ages and never really done squat. Well, now it's actually useful.
- Win+Q bring up search on the Start Screen. When searching, make sure you select the right category, such as Apps, Files, or even Store (which is what you use to search for Apps in the Windows Apps Store).
- On a non-touch device, I pretty much live on the Desktop, and I need my program shortcuts. It's not as easy as before, but when on Start Screen, right-click on a tile (those that get created for actual programs, not Apps), from the bottom of the screen select Open Location of Application (this will take you back to Desktop and open Explorer windows where the program's executable is), right-click your program's .exe and select Create Shortcut. Bam. Now short-cut on desktop that you can pin to taskbar (or, if like me and still create a custom Quickbar, drag it there).
- When in doubt, first try the charms on the right hand side. That's where the new power button is (to reboot or shutdown), that's the easy way to get to Control Panel, to change User Settings, etc.


I'm not saying it's all intuitive, and there are some things that even I dislike. But, really, some of this requires some unlearning of old Windows ways of doing things, and re-learning the new way of getting it done.