Sun City Summerlin Computer Club A Tour of Windows 8 Tom Burt September 26, 2012
Sun City Summerlin
Computer Club
A Tour of
Windows 8
Tom Burt
September 26, 2012
A Tour of Windows 8
Agenda
• Windows 8 – What Is It?
• What’s New and Different?
• Hardware Requirements
• How To Get Windows 8
• Windows 8 Upgrade Paths
• To Upgrade or Not
• Re-learning Windows – AGAIN
• Important Keyboard Shortcuts
• Important Mouse Actions
• Key “Windows 8” Apps
• Key Desktop Programs
• Web Links
A Tour of Windows 8
Windows 8 - What Is It?
• Successor to Windows 7 Family
– Based on Windows 7
– New “touch-oriented” UI “Windows 8) (was called Metro),
similar to Windows Phone.
– Also has a traditional Windows Desktop UI, similar to Windows 7.
• Retail PC Versions and Prices: Upgrade OEM
– Windows 8 (retail box) $60 ~100
– Windows 8 Professional (web) $40 ~130
• Also for Windows Tablets using the ARM CPU
– Windows RT (only available when purchase a device)
A Tour of Windows 8
What’s New and Different
• Videos: http://windows.com
• Windows 8 Start Screen with Tiles
– Each Tile can show “live” data while running.
• Built-in “Windows 8” (aka “Metro”) Apps
• “Windows 8” Apps run full-screen, like on a smart phone.
• New “Windows 8” Internet Explorer 10
• Microsoft has a Windows 8 App Store
• Also a Desktop version of Internet Explorer 10
• Enhanced Search – just start typing
• No Start menu in the Desktop space
– Third party apps may recreate this
– Can also create shortcuts on the Desktop
• Need to learn new ways of doing things
A Tour of Windows 8
Hardware Requirements
• A PC that runs Windows 7 will be able to run Windows 8
• Tom’s Recommended Configuration: – 2 GHz dual core CPU, 2 GB of RAM or more
– DirectX 9 Graphics Card with WDDM driver, Pixel Shader 2,
32 bits / pixel (for full video effects)
– 40 GB free hard disk space on a 80GB drive or more.
• There are few application compatibility issues; most Windows 7
– compatible applications should run fine on Windows 8 via the
Desktop.
• There may be some device compatibility issues, but most
Windows 7 – compatible devices (printers, scanners, web-cams,
…) should run on Windows 8.
A Tour of Windows 8
How To Get Windows 8
• Easiest – Buy a new PC on or after October 26th, 2012
– Windows 8 comes pre-installed
– Product Activation handled by the hardware vendor
– Windows 8 tested and verified by the vendor
– Still need to install your other applications and tools
• Buy and install an online copy of Windows 8
– Upgrade your PC hardware as needed / desired
– Online upgrade install for $40 (http://windows.com)
– Automatically runs the Windows 8 Upgrade Advisor
– Choices of “Upgrade” installation or a “Clean” installation
• Get (or pay) someone to do Windows 8 Upgrade on your PC
A Tour of Windows 8
Windows 8 Upgrade Paths
• The only in-place upgrade option will be from a Windows 7 OS to a
Windows 8 OS
– Windows 7 Home Basic / Premium to Windows 8
– Windows 7 Home Premium / Professional / Ultimate to Windows 8
Professional
– Recommended to use the “online upgrade”
• The “Upgrade” versions will still permit a “custom install”.
– You will need to generate an actual ISO image and burn it to a DVD.
– Any Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 system will qualify for
the $40 upgrade price.
– XP or Vista upgrades require a custom (clean) install.
– You can also install in a Virtual Box or VMWare virtual machine
– You can also install Windows 8 in a separate partition
as a “dual boot”.
A Tour of Windows 8
To Upgrade or Not
• Windows 8 will ship pre-installed on most new PCs.
– $400 to $700 buys a very nice desktop or laptop PC.
– For a desktop, recommend you have a 20 or 24” wide-screen flat panel.
• But … the special $40 upgrade deal ends January 31, 2013.
• Windows 7 is still mainstream and will be supported until about 2020.
• MS says Win XP Home “Extended Support” to end in April, 2014.
A Tour of Windows 8
Re-Learning Windows – AGAIN!
• Where IS it?
– New “Windows 8” GUI has very different look and feel.
– Some things easier to find, but many not.
– Experience is like dealing with a split personality.
• Start Page vs Desktop
– Start Page used for launching “Windows 8” Apps
– Desktop used for launching “Windows 7” programs
– Windows automatically chooses where to run the App or program.
• How do I DO that?
– Many new features require new learning.
– In Metro, screen controls fade away – or you have to know where
touch or mouse “magic hot spots” are.
• Bonanza for book and training vendors
A Tour of Windows 8
Important Keyboard Shortcuts
• Windows key by itself - Opens the Start Page
• Winkey + Tab - Cycles between apps
• Ctrl + “-” - Zooms out on Start Page
• Ctrl + “=“ - Zooms back in on Start Page
• PgDn – Pans Start Page tiles to left
• PdUp – Pans Start Page tiles to right
• Winkey + C – Displays the Charms & shows date/time
• Winkey + I – Opens the Settings Charm, including Power
• Winkey + K – Opens the Devices Charm
• Winkey + X – Opens the Desktop Quick Menu
• Winkey + E – Opens the File Explorer
• Winkey + Z – Displays the App Commands Bar
• http://blogs.msdn.com/b/santhoshonline/archive/2012/08/05/windows8-
desktop-keyboard-shortcuts.aspx
A Tour of Windows 8
Important Mouse Actions
• Hover in upper right or lower right corner – displays the Charms
• Click in the extreme lower right corner on Start Page to zoom in/out
• Press CTrl key and use the mouse scroll wheel to zoom in/out
• Hover in upper left to display a tile of the most recently accessed app
• Hover in mid-left to display a set of tiles of running apps
• Can use the horizontal scroll bar at the bottom of the Start Page to pan
tiles left or right
• Click any app tile on the Start Page to launch that app
• Click the Desktop tile to launch the Windows 8 Desktop
• On the Desktop, can right click in the extreme lower left corner to
display the Quick Menu of useful system functions
• Double click to start any Desktop programs (mainly earlier Windows
applications).
• Right-click on the desktop to bring up the “Personalize” control panel
or to adjust the screen resolution.
A Tour of Windows 8
Key “Windows 8” Apps
• Mail App
– Supports IMAP4, Hotmail, Outlook.com, Gmail, …
– But … Doesn’t support POP3 (major downer)
– May have to use a “classic” desktop e- mail program; Windows
Live Mail 2011 will install and run (demonstrate)
• Calendar App
– Insists you to sign in to your Microsoft Account
• Photo Viewer App
– Insists you to sign in to your Microsoft Account
– Accesses web photo accounts (Facebook, …)
– No editing features – does slide shows
• Music App
– Music Player
– Interface to the Xbox music store
A Tour of Windows 8
Key Desktop Apps
• No Start menu
– But – can right-click in lower left corner to pop up a list of
management functions.
• File Explorer (“Computer”)
– Has the Ribbon interface
– Otherwise not much different than Windows 7
• Control Panel
– Similar to Windows 7
• Most Windows Accessories still present on the “All Apps”
screen (Winkey + Z)
– Notepad & WordPad
– Calculator
A Tour of Windows 8
Windows 8 – Web Links
• Microsoft’s Windows Site: http://windows.com
• ZD-Net: http://www.zdnet.com http://www.zdnet.com/windows-8-special-report?tag=header;header-sec
• Paul Thurott’s Windows Supersite http://www.winsupersite.com/
A Tour of Windows 8
Questions
And
Answers