5 essential Windows 8 tips

by Vincent Chang | 30 October 2012 4:59pm SGT

(Credit: Screenshot by Vincent Chang/CNET Asia)

If you're one of those who have taken the plunge, here are five important tips that may improve your experience with Windows 8.

If you have a touch-capable Windows 8 PC, that's great. For the most part, you'll do fine by focusing on the new touch gestures and they even translate directly to the touchpad. 

If you're using a mouse, remember the four corners (or as Microsoft dubs them, "hot corners") of the screen. Moving or hovering your mouse pointer at these locations are analogous to the touch gestures. Microsoft covers these gestures (for both touch and mouse) in the video tutorials here.

However, we would still recommend that you bone up on some of the more common keyboard shortcuts, just because they are so useful. Here are our top 10 favorites:

Press this key		To do this
Windows logo key‌ +start typing		Search your PC
Ctrl+plus (+) or Ctrl+minus (-)		Zoom in or out of a large number of items, like apps pinned to the Start screen
Ctrl+scroll wheel		Zoom in or out of a large number of items, like apps pinned to the Start screen
Windows logo key‌ +C		Open the charms In an app, open the commands for the app
Windows logo key‌ +F		Open the Search charm to search files
Windows logo key‌ +H		Open the Share charm
Windows logo key‌ +I		Open the Settings charm
Windows logo key‌ +J		Switch the main app and snapped app
Windows logo key‌ +K		Open the Devices charm
Windows logo key‌ +O		Lock the screen orientation (portrait or landscape)
Windows logo key‌ +Q		Open the Search charm to search apps
Windows logo key‌ +W		Open the Search charm to search settings
Windows logo key‌ +Z		Show the commands available in the app
Windows logo key‌ +spacebar		Switch input language and keyboard layout
Windows logo key‌ +Ctrl+spacebar		Change to a previously selected input
Windows logo key‌ +Tab		Cycle through open apps (except desktop apps)
Windows logo key‌ +Ctrl+Tab		Cycle through open apps (except desktop apps) and snaps them as they are cycled
Windows logo key‌ +Shift+Tab		Cycle through open apps (except desktop apps) in reverse order
Windows logo key‌ +PgUp		Move the Start screen and apps to the monitor on the left (Apps in the desktop won’t change monitors)
Windows logo key‌ +PgDown		Move the Start screen and apps to the monitor on the right (Apps in the desktop won’t change monitors)
Windows logo key‌ +Shift+period (.)		Snaps an app to the left
Windows logo key‌ +period(.)		Snaps an app to the right
Esc		Stop or exit the current task

One of the more bewildering (and schizophrenia-inducing) things about Windows 8 is that the new Metro-style apps and your old-school desktop programs co-exist together. For some apps, such as Internet Explorer 10, there could even be two different copies present. If you prefer to use the desktop exclusively (or vice versa, the Metro interface), you'll likely need to change the default programs to avoid switching haphazardly between the two. Still, there are occasions when it's impossible to prevent a possibly jarring transition, but hopefully this will help. 

Open the Charms bar and search for Programs, then select Default Programs. From here, you can then associate file types with the apps of your choice e.g. setting your music files to open in a desktop media player instead of the Metro-style Music app.

For Windows power users, the Metro interface may just be another layer hindering convenient access to the applications and tools that they require. Yes, we're talking about Administrative Tools such as Performance Monitor and Task Scheduler. However, you can have these tools show up on the Start Screen as Live tiles. 

Open the Charms bar, select Settings and then Tiles. Enable the option here to "show administrative tools" and they should now appear on the Start Screen as Live tiles. Of course, if you already have many tiles in your Start Screen, we recommend that you organize them into groups for easier access. 

To do so, simply drag an app tile to an empty spot on the Start Screen. This will isolate it and create its own group--you can then add more app tiles to this collection. You can also name the group by right-clicking on it while zoomed out.

Get your Windows Media Center add-on for free

With Windows 8, Microsoft has opted not to bundle Windows Media Center with the operating system. Although this software is mainly used by those who connect their PCs to the TV, it also comes with codecs needed for DVD playback. In other words, Windows 8 won't play any DVDs out of the box, though PC vendors may bundle their own software to compensate.

Of course, you can easily remedy this by downloading third-party programs that do support DVD playback, such as the free VLC Media Player. 

Windows Media Center.
(Credit: Screenshot by Ed Rhee/CNET)

The other option is to get Windows Media Center, which also allows users to watch and record TV using the computer. This add-on costs US$9.99, but for a limited time (till the end of next January), Microsoft is offering it for free. All you need to do is to give Microsoft an email address here, and the company promises to send you a product key within 24 hours.

Once you get your product key, you can search for "add features" in Windows 8 and tap "Add features to Windows 8". Enter the key and after accepting the license terms and adding the feature, your computer will restart automatically with Windows Media Center enabled.

Clean your PC

If you're like us, you may be used to reinstalling Windows on a regular basis to keep it clean, fresh and snappy. You can now do this easily on your Windows 8 computer without having to root for your drivers or backup your personal files to external storage. The new OS comes with a "Refresh your PC" feature that basically wipes all your desktop apps while keeping your personal files and settings intact.