Windows 8 tips and tricks

 

Windows 8 tips and tricks

Update to Windows 8.1

Microsoft has released Windows 8.1, which is a free upgrade for anyone running Windows 8. This update addresses many of the problems users have had with Windows 8 and also adds a Start button. Visit Microsoft's Windows 8.1 page for the update.

Customize your tiles

Make the most of your Windows Start screen tiles by adjusting the sizes, where they are located, and what is listed.

• Move any tile by clicking and dragging the tile. While moving a tile, if you need a larger view of the Start screen move the tile towards the top or bottom of the screen to zoom out.
• Use your mouse wheel to scroll left-to-right through your tiles.
• Any Desktop shortcut or program can be pinned to the Start screen by right-clicking the icon and choosing Pin to Start.
• In the bottom right-hand corner of the start screen is a magnifying glass with tiles, click this icon to get a zoomed out view of your Start screen. In this view, if you right-click on a group of tiles you'll be given the option to name group, which can be useful if you have a group of related tiles (e.g. games). In this view, you can also click and drag a group to organize your tile groups.
• Create a new speed bump between tile groups by moving a tile to a speed bump.
• Resize any User tile or Live tile by right-clicking the tile and choosing resize.
• If there is a tile you want on your Taskbar, right-click the tile and choose Pin to taskbar.
• Show admin applications on the Start screen by clicking Settings in Charms, click Settings, and change the Show administrative tools from No to Yes.
• In Internet Explorer 10, you can also pin any of your favorite web pages to your Start Screen.

Windows 8 keyboard shortcuts

Knowing at least some of the Windows 8 keyboard shortcuts will make your Windows 8 experience much more enjoyable. Try to memorize these top Windows 8 shortcut keys.

• Press the Windows key to open the Start screen or switch to the Desktop (if open).
• Press the Windows key + D will open the Windows Desktop.
• Press the Windows key + . to pin and unpin Windows apps on the side of the screen.
• Press the Windows key + X to open the power user menu, which gives you access to many of the features most power users would want (e.g. Device Manager and Command Prompt).
• Press the Windows key + C to open the Charms.
• Press the Windows key + I to open the Settings, which is the same Settings found in Charms.
• Press and hold the Windows key + Tab to show open apps.
• Press the Windows key + Print screen to create a screen shot, which is automatically saved into your My Pictures folder.

See our Windows shortcuts page for a full listing of all Windows shortcuts.

Know your hot corners

The corners on your screen are hot corners and give you access to different Windows features. Below, is a brief explanation of each of these corners.

Bottom Left-hand corner

The bottom left-hand hot corner of the screen will allow you to access the Start screen, if you're in the Start screen and have the Desktop open, this corner will open the Desktop from the Start screen.

Tip: Right-clicking in the left hand corner will open the power user menu.

Top-left corner of the screen

Moving the mouse to the top-left corner and then down will display all the apps running on the computer. Clicking and dragging any of these apps to the left or right-hand side of the screen will snap that app to that side of the screen. Each of these open app icons can also be right-clicked to close or snap.

Right-hand side of the screen

On the full right-hand side of the screen will be given access to the Windows Charms.

Taking advantage of search

The Search in Windows 8 has been significantly improved when compared to all previous versions of Windows. To search for a file or run a program in Windows 8 from the Start screen just start typing what you're trying to find or want to run.

As you begin typing, the results will start appearing on the left-hand side. In addition to being able to search for files and run programs, the Search also supports limiting the search to apps such as Finance, People, Maps, Photos, Mail, Music, Videos, Weather, and much more. If what you are searching for is not a file or program, click on the app you wish to use as the search. For example, if you were searching for "New York" and selected the Weather App you would be shown the weather in New York, NY.

By default, Search organizes the available Apps by how frequently they are used and then in alphabetical order. If you want to keep your favorite app at the top of the Search list, right-click the app and choose Pin. Pinning the app will lock it in place regardless of how often it is used. If there is an app you don't want (e.g. Finance) you can turn on and off any of the search apps through the PC settings, which is found under the Settings in the Charms.

Bonus tip: The Search is also found through Charms and can also be opened by pressing Windows key + F.

Running two apps side by side

Any app can be pinned to the left or right-hand side of the screen. For example, open the People app and then press the Windows Key + . (period) to move that app to the right-hand side of the screen, pressing the same keys again will move it to the left-hand side, and pressing the same keys again will make it full screen. While an app is pinned, any other app or program can be opened and loaded into the available space on the screen. For example, in the below picture, we've opened a browser window and have the People app running to monitor our social networks.

Any open app can also be pinned using your mouse by clicking at the top of the tile and dragging it to the left or right-hand side of the screen.

Bonus tip: The Desktop can also be pinned to the left or right-hand side of the screen.

Note: In order for snap to work properly your resolution must be at least 1,366 x 768.

Windows 8 Task Manager

The Windows 8 Task Manager has been significantly improved over previous versions of Windows. Some of the new changes include showing a total percent usage at the top of your Processes, which makes it easier to determine total memory and CPU usage, improved Performance graphs, a Startup tab to see startup processes and their impact to system performance, and the App history tab (as shown below) that gives you the total resources an app has used over a period of time. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to start exploring the new Task Manager.

Use a picture password to log into your computer

Windows 8 includes a new feature called Picture password, which allows you to authenticate with the computer using a series of gestures that include circles, straight lines, and taps. Enable this feature if you want a new way to access your computer or have a hard time with passwords.

1. Open the Windows Charms.
2. Click Settings and then More PC settings
3. In the PC settings window click Users and then select Create a picture password

Bonus tip: A four digit pin password can also be created and used to access your computer.

Take advantage of Windows 8 apps

Windows 8 comes included with several apps to help you get the most from your computer. Below are just a few of the included apps.

People

Microsoft touts the People feature in Windows 8 because they understand how many people are using social networks today. In the People feature you'll be able to connect your Windows computer to all the major social networks including Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Once connected, you can pin the people app and monitor your social network (as shown below), use People in Search to find people, and get an overview of what is happening in all your social networks.

Reader

The Reader app will give you PDF support right out of the box.

SkyDrive

The SkyDrive app will give you access to the Microsoft cloud service SkyDrive, which allows you to store your photos, documents, and other files in the cloud and access or share those files with any computer with Internet access.

Store

Take advantage of the Windows Store and install one or more of the thousands of available apps designed for Windows 8. The Store is found in the Start screen, or use Search to search the Store app for any apps that you are trying to find.

Basic PC shortcut keys

Basic PC shortcut keys

The below basic shortcut keys are a listing of shortcut keys that will work with almost all IBM compatible computers and software programs. It is highly recommended that all users keep a good reference of the below shortcut keys or try to memorize the below keys. Doing so will dramatically increase your productivity.

 

Shortcut Keys	Description
Alt + F	File menu options in current program.
Alt + E	Edit options in current program
F1	Universal Help in almost every Windows program.
Ctrl + A	Select all text.
Ctrl + F	Open find window for current document or window.
Ctrl + S	Save current document file.
Ctrl + X	Cut selected item.
Shift + Del	Cut selected item.
Ctrl + C	Copy selected item.
Ctrl + Ins	Copy selected item
Ctrl + V	Paste
Shift + Ins	Paste
Ctrl + P	Print the current page or document.
Home	Goes to beginning of current line.
Ctrl + Home	Goes to beginning of document.
End	Goes to end of current line.
Ctrl + End	Goes to end of document.
Shift + Home	Highlights from current position to beginning of line.
Shift + End	Highlights from current position to end of line.
Ctrl + Left arrow	Moves one word to the left at a time.
Ctrl + Right arrow	Moves one word to the right at a time.

Samsung Galaxy S5 review

Samsung Galaxy S5 review

With Samsung officially unveiling the Galaxy S5 at Mobile World Congress, we finally have confirmation of the Korean company’s next flagship smartphone.

Read on for all the details.

IT’S A POWERHOUSE

Samsung isn’t shy when it comes to loading its top-of-the-range phones with headline-grabbing specs, and the Galaxy S5 is no different. Centre stage is its quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor, which runs at a blistering 2.5GHz. This chip, paired with 2GB of RAM, means the phone shouldn’t have any bother smoothly running any app you throw at it. One thing to note: it isn’t 64-bit – that’s probably going to be a feature of next year’s Samsung flagship.

The phone comes with Android 4.4 KitKat and a new version of Samsung’s TouchWiz interface. There’s no word yet on whether or not a stock Android Google Play or Nexus edition will be be available.

Meanwhile, a 2800mAh battery should give the S5 enough juice to easily last a day (Samsung claims 21 hours of talk time), and as with previous Galaxy S phones it’s swappable.

You also get a choice between 16GB and 32GB of expandable storage (you can add up to 64GB extra via microSD), and there’s a microUSB 3.0 port for quick transfer speeds.

On the connectivity front, there’s both 4G LTE (supporting the speedy Category 4) and fifth generation Wi-Fi 802.11ac and 2X2 MiMo, plus a feature called Download Booster which uses both Wi-Fi and 4G simultaneously to download files more speedily.

SCREEN: BIGGER, BUT NO QHD

In retrospect, speculation about the S5 toting a quad HD 2560 x 1440 screen always seemed a touch far-fetched, so we’re not particularly surprised to see that Samsung has retained a full HD 1080p resolution instead. The AMOLED screen, however, is slightly larger than the S4’s at 5.1in.

FINGERTIPS OF FUN

Samsung has fitted the S5 with a fingerprint scanner, which serves three main purposes. First, it can swiftly unlock the phone, which works much like the Touch IDsensor on Apple's iPhone 5s (albeit a little less snappy – but it’s much more accurate than the HTC One Max’s scanner).

The second function is instant online mobile payments via PayPal integration, and the third is to protect important documents with a Private Mode that's unlocked by your fingerprint.

Round the back, there's a heartrate sensor – the first ever seen on a smartphone, designed to play nice with Samsung's revised S Health app.

SUPERCHARGED AUTOFOCUS

The Galaxy S5's 16MP camera comes with an LED flash, a new advanced HDR mode and post-shot focusing: it takes two images every time you press the shutter, with the focus trained in different spots: one on the subject and one on the background. This means that, after the shot’s been taken, you can choose a defocussed or sharply focussed background (mostly for aesthetic reasons). But probably the camera’s best new feature is its super-fast autofocus, which Samsung claims is the fastest on any smartphone at up to 0.3 seconds.

Round the front, there's a 2.1MP front camera for video chatting and selfies.

FIT BUT YOU KNOW IT

Samsung has focussed heavily on fitness with the Galaxy S5, equipping it with a brand new version of the S Health app that provides a FitBit-style activity tracker that helps you monitor your workouts and diet. S Health 3.0 is also aided by the built-in heart rate monitor and designed to integrate fully with Samsung’s new wearable tech: the Galaxy Gear 2, Galaxy Gear 2 Neo and Galaxy Gear Fit – meaning you can keep an eye on your activity without having to stop to haul the S5 out of your pocket.

PRICE AND AVAILABILITY

Samsung has kept quiet on the price thus far, but we should find out some time ahead of the Galaxy S5’s 11th April launch. We'll keep you updated.

Vodafone, Three, EE, Phones4u and Carphone Warehouse have all announced that they will be stocking the Galaxy S5, though prices and tariffs have yet to be revealed. We'll be updating this page with more details and links as they come in.

UPDATE 27/02/14: Amazon.es has made the Galaxy S5 16GB edition available for pre-order, priced at €729 – which converts to £599. Expect the UK price to be £600 or very close to it.