We’ve all done it – went out and bought a new laptop with Windows 8 installed and found that it’s vastly different than what we are used to. A lot of people would just as soon toss Windows 8 in the trash. That isn’t because Windows 8 is horrible, it’s because they don’t know how to use it. So, do we uninstall Windows 8 and install Windows 7? NO! Move forward, adjust, adapt, or be left behind. Do you think Windows 9 will revert back to what you are used to? Probably not, it will most likely continue down this new method of Windows. My point is that we should learn how to use the new instead of trying to hold onto the past.

Windows 8 Shortcut Keys:

First, let’s learn the windows short cut keys. In Windows 8, they become your bread and butter, so if you learn just three hotkeys, learn:

• Win+W – Search Control Panel and Settings stuff
• Win+F – Search Files
• Esc – Yes, escape. No joke. If you hit the Windows Key, you can hit Escape to go back.

Next, put these into use:

• Win+E – Explorer
• Win+R – Run
• Win+Break – System Info
• Win+D – Desktop (I use this constantly if I get trapped outside the Desktop world)
• Win+Plus or Win+Minus (no shift) – Magnifier/Zoom In and Out
• Win+F – Find Files
• Win+Print Screen – Put a PNG in the Pictures folder
• Alt-Tab – Switch between Apps
• Win-Tab – Switch between Full Screen Apps

Once you have those, add these:

• Win+C – Charms (right side menu) then arrows to move and enter to launch.
• Win+K – Devices
• Win+I – Settings in any app plus brightness, network and other useful system features
• Win+Arrows – Snap desktop apps to the sides
• Win+(period) – Alternate sides to “snap” Metro Apps. Add shift to reverse it.
• Win-X – Admin Stuff. I’m mentioning it twice because it’s THAT useful.
• Win+PageUp or Win+PageDn – Move full screen apps to other monitors. Super useful for News apps and Readers. The Start Screen can be moved as well.

I know that seems like a lot at first, but just like anything else, the more you use them, the more you will remember them. If you are struggling to memorize these, print them out for easy reference. After a week, you’ll realize that you aren’t even looking at your cheat sheet anymore.

I found a fantastic video that really shows the basics of how to use Windows 8 so I thought I’d share it here with you. I hope you find this informational.

How to Use Windows 8 Video

Windows 8 Task Manager

The new and improved Task Manager is fantastic. It’s always been useful, but now, it’s not only useful but intuitive. The whole point of the Task Manager is to figure out what is running and what is potentially slowing your computer down. In Windows 7 and before all you could do was sort the list and complain. Now, you can see the difference between Services, Apps, Background Stuff, etc. It makes it much more obvious what you are looking at and much more user friendly. Now, even novices don’t have to be scared of it….though you should still use caution and know what you was doing before stopping/ending any processes…..

File Operations

Another fantastic part of Windows 8 is the new File copy/move look and feel. You get a tremendous amount of detail if you want it. You can now see in detail what is happening while your file is being copied or moved.

Another nice feature is that you can easily pause or stop using the icons above the graph. As you add more files to copy/move, it layers them one above the other so you can see each file individually.