For users who have been trying, unsuccessfully, to get used to the touch- friendly Windows 8 version, Microsoft’s introduction of 8.1 comes as a real blessing. Not only is the immensely useful and very familiar Start button back in this new version, it has many more features that add to its functionality making it a really worthy successor to the popular OS that Windows used to be before the Windows 8 disaster- of- sorts. It is even possible for you to eliminate the “trigger happy” app switching to a certain extent with the Windows 8.1 version. Here are a few tips that will help you use Windows 8.1 as the user- friendly OS it is designed to be:
The all- important Taskbar and Navigation Properties
Windows 8 Taskbar
To start with, be aware that the Taskbar along with the Navigation Properties window are your best allies in Windows 8.1. That’s because you can control a good number of the settings from these two. Take a look at some cool ways you can customize your settings from here to make the OS easier to navigate:
– Turn off mouse access to Switcher
This is bound to have been one of the biggest reasons for your irritation with Windows 8 especially if you cannot perceive any rational reason behind treating your desktop and the currently running apps as one single all- inclusive app, which is what Windows 8 does. What actually happens here is that Windows 8 comes with an app switching interface called Switcher which is responsible for this confusing ‘”feature”. Now, with Windows 8.1, you can get back the older Windows Flip app which lets you switch between both Metro apps and desktop apps with the Alt- Tab combo as if they were standalone apps. To disable the hot corner Switcher activation, right click on the Taskbar, select the Navigation tab and uncheck the option “When I click upper left corner, switch between recent apps“. Keep in mind though, that Windows 8.1 does not have a solution for switching off both hot corners for this or the keyboard shortcut so you just have to get used to those.
– Turning off access to Charms
Similarly, you can also turn off one of the hot corner Charms activation methods that Windows 8 comes integrated with. Uncheck the option “When I point at upper right corner, show charms” in the Navigation tab, to deactivate this feature. It is possible to completely turn off Switcher for those who are really not happy with this feature and this can be done through the PC Settings. This might be a drastic step to take though and you could actually end up losing some of the functionality of the OS by disabling the Switcher function entirely, so think well before you decide to do this.
– Start with desktop on boot- up
One of the most user friendly features of Windows 8.1 is its “skip the Start screen” option. When you have the ‘”When I sign in or close all apps on a screen, go to the desktop instead of Start” checked, you start with the desktop whenever you boot up or sign in. That saves you the time and effort of clicking on the desktop icon from the Start screen each and every time.
– Make navigation easier by opting for Apps view
You can’t resurrect the Start menu from the older Windows versions but you can get the next best thing by choosing to have the Apps view when you click on the Start button. This is still a Metro type screen but it is far more user friendly when it comes to navigation because the app icons are displayed here. You get this done by checking the “List desktop apps first in the Apps view when it’s sorted by category” option, then the “Show my desktop background on Start” and then “Show the Apps view automatically when I go to Start“.
– Limit searches to apps
Now that you have your apps view on your desktop, the one thing that could make life easier for you is if you could tweak your search option so that it only sifts through these apps. You can actually do this by unchecking the “Search everywhere instead of just my apps when I search from the Apps view” option. With this option deselected, you will find a search box appearing in your Apps view desktop and when you enter text here, the search covers the apps shown here and your Metro apps. Even more interestingly, you can simply start a search by typing when you are in the Apps view.
– Access the power user menu
Windows 8.1 comes to you with the improved power- user menu option which easily accessible right from your desktop. Just right click on the Start button just like you used to do with the older versions of Windows and you can see a whole host of features. These include System, Control Panel, Power Options, Shutdown, Restart and Sleep, making it really easy for you to quickly end a session or access the control panel without having to search through the cluttered Win 8 screen to get to them.
If Windows 8 really makes working on your desktop frustrating and time consuming for you, then moving on to Windows 8.1 is a great solution that is also simple to implement. Keep these tips in the back of your mind and you can customize your brand new Win 8.1 in many different ways to make your user experience as near perfect as you can expect.