That is, if you’re using the desktop environment and would like to find and then run an application, just tap the Windows key on your keyboard (or otherwise return to the Start screen) and start typing. Instead of a Start menu–based search, you’ll see the new full-screen Search experience, now called Start Search, as shown in Figure 4-43. And it’s far more powerful than the old Start Menu Search.
This new Search experience now provides a filter capability where it returns both traditional Windows applications and Metro-style apps by default. But you can use the various items in the Search pane on the right to change the search to Settings (and control panels), Files (documents and other files), and, interestingly, within Metro-style apps that support this functionality.
Keep typing to refine the search. When you see the application (or app) you want, simply click (or tap, or select) it. If it’s a desktop application, the view will switch back to the desktop and the selected application will launch immediately.
Knowing that Start Search now works for settings, files, and apps, you’ll probably use it more than ever. But even if a desktop application search is all you need, you can rest easy knowing that one of Windows 7’s best features has carried forward to Windows 8.
If you know the type of search you wish to perform, you can use different keyboard shortcuts. Winkey + F works for file searches. And Winkey + W will jump right to settings search. Check the appendix for a full list of Windows key keyboard shortcuts.
Figure 4-43: The new Windows 8 Search experience
To the Cloud: Using the SkyDrive Desktop App
While Microsoft built SkyDrive support into the Metro environment, providing File Picker-based access to the files on that cloud service, as well as integrated setting sync for those who want it, there is one crucial bit missing for desktop users: you can’t natively navigate your SkyDrive storage using File Explorer.
Fortunately, you can overcome this issue by downloading a SkyDrive desktop application that integrates your SkyDrive storage with File Explorer, providing a libraries-like interface for exploring SkyDrive, copying and moving files to and from this cloud storage service, and syncing those files with your PC.
The SkyDrive desktop application works in Windows Vista and 7 as well.
Shown in Figure 4-44, the SkyDrive application integrates with File Explorer and also lets you upload large files (up to 2 GB in size) to the service, which isn’t possible through the normal web interface. And even more exciting, it provides a unique Remote Fetch functionality that lets you access files on remote PCs through the SkyDrive web interface.
The SkyDrive application and Remote Fetch aren’t really features of Windows 8, per se, so we won’t waste too much space on them here. But you should know that this application is available, since this functionality will make your Windows 8 experiences even richer.
Figure 4-44: Access and sync your SkyDrive storage from File Explorer.
Summary
While Microsoft is very clearly heading to a future in which increasingly sophisticated and full-featured versions of the Metro user experience will eventually squeeze out the classic Windows desktop, we’re a long way from that future. And honestly, Metro and the desktop will coexist for the foreseeable future, thanks to the over one billion PCs out there still running classic Windows applications and the vast depth of experience that users have with this environment.
Fortunately, Microsoft hasn’t left desktop users in the lurch with Windows 8. This version of Microsoft’s client OS includes deep integration with new core Metro user experiences, and many desktop-related improvements like a new File Explorer, a new Task Manager, a new file copy and move experience, and more. So even if you spend most of your day in the desktop, Windows 8 will be a useful and desirable upgrade.
Chapter 5
Make It Yours: Personalizing Windows 8
• Customizing the lock screen
• Customizing the Start screen
• Customizing app tiles and tile groups
• Customizing user account pictures and other settings
• Customizing settings and settings sync
• Customizing the desktop
• Using a multi-monitor setup more efficiently
• Using Libraries with SkyDrive
• Easing the transition between Metro and the desktop
• Booting (almost) directly to the desktop
With its brand-new Metro interface, you won’t be surprised to discover that there are new ways in which to customize Windows 8 to work the way you want it to. Aside from the app-specific tweaks we discuss throughout this book, Windows 8 provides an entirely new PC Settings interface for customizing many Metro- and system-level features; new personalization features for the lock screen, Start screen, and app tiles; and more.
And customizing Windows 8 is not just about Metro. As with previous versions of Windows, this OS also provides a number of ways in which you can customize the Windows desktop, including useful new multi-monitor capabilities that will be valuable in a number of usage scenarios, especially for those who pick up a new Windows 8 (or RT) tablet and decide to dock it to a larger display—and a keyboard and mouse—at home or at work.
Rounding out the Windows 8 customization capabilities are a handful of ways in which you can make the Metro and desktop environments interact a bit more seamlessly with each other. Ultimately, the goal here is to help you make Windows 8 work the way you want it to.
Customizing Metro
When it comes to customizing the Metro user experience, you’ll be spending much, but not all, of your time in the new PC Settings, a Metro-based interface that partially replaces—augments, really—the old Control Panel interface from older Windows versions.
The easiest way to access PC Settings will depend on the type of PC or device you’re using and whether you prefer to use the keyboard, mouse, or touch screen.
• Keyboard: Those who prefer keyboard shortcuts should remember the Winkey + I shortcut, which displays the Settings pane from anywhere in Windows 8. This pane, shown in Figure 5-1, provides two areas: a top area that is context-sensitive to the experience—Start screen, desktop, or Metro-style app—you’re currently viewing and a bottom area that is global, and thus the same everywhere. That is, the top area will look different depending on what you’re doing at the time, whereas the bottom area will always look the same.
Figure 5-1: The Settings pane
Here, you’re concerned with the bottom area. Below the grid of system icons, you’ll see a link titled Change PC settings. Select that to access PC Settings.
• Mouse and touch: Those with a touch screen, or those who prefer to the use the mouse, will find that accessing the Charms bar, as shown in Figure 5-2, and then Settings, will be the easiest route. Then, from Settings, click the link Change PC settings.
Figure 5-2: You can get to Settings and then PC Settings from the Charms bar.