![]() Enable the following two options: “Show the Apps view automatically when I go to Start” and “List desktop apps first in the Apps view when it’s sorted by category.” Click OK to close the window and then click Start. To do so, open Taskbar and Navigation Properties as described above and Navigate to the Start screen. OK, it’s not quite a Start menu, but you can also replace the Start screen with the All Apps screen, and configure that screen to display desktop applications first, making it a bit more efficient for desktop users. Replace the Start screen with the All Apps screen. ![]() From the desktop, when you tap WINKEY repeatedly, you will see that the transition between the two interfaces is very smooth now. Then, choose the desktop wallpaper tile to use that image on Start too. To do so, navigate to the Start screen, type WINKEY + I (for Settings) and choose Personalize. If you’re willing to keep the Start menu but find the transition between that interface and the desktop be jarring-you’re not alone-you can somewhat minimize the jarring- um-ness by using your desktop wallpaper as the Start background. Making the transition from desktop to Start less jarring. Here are some tips for making Windows 8.1 even more like Windows 7, and for minimizing the silliness of the mobile Windows 8.x user experiences that still linger on. ![]() But what if you don’t want to wait for Windows 10? What if you are upgrading now and simply can’t stand some of the weirdness in Windows 8.1-like the goofy Start screen that makes no sense at all on a normal PC, or the terrible Charms and Switcher interfaces that pop up unbidden when you inadvertently mouse into the screen corners? What can you do? Microsoft is taking steps to reverse the wrongs and has made nice headway in Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Update 1, and will make more improvements in Windows 10. (Sadly, this consistency doesn’t extend to Modern apps and other Modern interfaces, where right-clicking works as it did in Windows 8.0, triggering new Modern UIs.) Now you see the same type of context menu found in the desktop environment, for a nice bit of overdue consistency. If you right-clicked on the Start screen in the initial version of Windows 8, you would see unfamiliar Modern interfaces for interacting with the screen or its tiles. Ditto for the taskbar: Just mouse to the bottom of the screen when using a Modern app.Ĭontext menus work as expected on the Start screen. The taskbar is now available from within Modern apps too. They can’t be run in a windowed form on the desktop yet-that’s coming in Windows 10-but if you’re using a Modern mobile app on a PC with a mouse or other pointing device, you can access the app’s title bar-and some basic window controls like Close and Minimize-by mousing up to the top of the screen. Modern apps now sport a title bar with window controls. ![]() If you can believe it, Microsoft actually removed the Start button from the initial shipping version of Windows 8: The end of the taskbar was empty! (The only way to see it was to mouse into the corner of the screen, or press a Windows button or key on your device or keyboard.) Now, the Start button is always there, as God intended. (And remember how to get to Taskbar and Navigation Properties, as you’ll need this interface again.) The option you want is called “When I sign in or close all apps on a screen, go to the desktop instead of Start”. Not seeing this change? Right-click on the taskbar, choose Properties, and then navigate to the Navigation tab. ![]() If you are using a traditional form factor PC like a laptop or desktop PC, Windows 8.1 will now boot directly into the familiar desktop environment you’re really going to use, and not to the Start screen. So to get these changes, all you need to do is upgrade through Windows Update.Īmong the helpful changes that have come since that initial release:īoot to the desktop. That is, it has begun reversing some of the most-hated features of Windows 8.x that made this OS so unsettling to users of previous Windows versions. Using some free or inexpensive utilities, you can make Windows 8.1 look and work more like Windows 7 today.Īnd here’s some more good news: While the original shipping version of this new OS, called Windows 8, took an even more hardline stance on the new user interfaces, Microsoft has since stepped back from the cliff via free updates such as Windows 8.1 and Windows 8.1 Update 1. The software giant is fixing these problems in Windows 10, but you don’t need to wait. If you’re coming to Windows 8.1 from Windows 7, I’ve got bad news: in this latest Windows version, Microsoft has badly melded a mobile OS into the desktop version of Windows, and it has removed key user interfaces you’ve come to know and master. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |