WINDOWS 8

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20 must-know Windows 8 tips and tricks

Windows 8 is rife with features and behaviors that conspire to perplex even the most experienced PC users. Not all of them are bad, per se, but few of them are immediately intuitive. Making matters worse, the OS was primarily designed for touch control, and as a result, many mouse and keyboard commands feel like tacked-on afterthoughts.

But help is on the way.

We've assembled a list of our favorite Windows 8 shortcuts, tricks, and workarounds. Many focus on making the most of the OS on a traditional desktop PC, so if you're interested in touch gestures, please check out our article that focuses directly on the Windows 8 touch experience. Now let's start our journey of discovery with a look at easy-to-use (though often tough to remember!) Windows 8 hotkey commands.

Employ the hottest hotkeys we know

In these key combinations, hold down the Windows key (normally located between Alt and Ctrl) and another key, as described on this list.

• Press the Windows key to enter the tiled Start screen.
• The Windows key + M minimizes everything that's showing on the desktop.
• The Windows key + E opens Explorer for quick access to folders.
• On the Start screen, press the Windows key + D to instantly get to the desktop.
• The Windows key + Tab opens a list of currently running programs.
• The Windows key + Print Screen takes a screenshot and saves it in a Screenshots folder nested in your Pictures folder. 
• To take a screenshot on a Windows 8 tablet, simultaneously press the Windows button and the volume-down button on the tablet chassis.
• The Windows key + Q opens a global search menu. Type what you're looking for and where you would like to look.
• The Windows key + W opens a search in your system settings to quickly locate and change system properties.
• The Windows key + F opens a file and folder search.
• The Windows key + Pause opens the system properties page to show you a quick rundown of your specs.
• The Windows key + "," (that's the comma sign!) makes all current windows transparent, giving you a peek at the desktop as long as you hold down the Windows key.
• The Windows key + "." (the period) snaps a window to the right or left side (toggling each time you press ".").
• The Windows key + R prompts the Run command—useful for quickly launching apps and other routines with a command prompt.
• The Windows key + X opens the Quick Access Menu, exposing system functionality such as the Command Prompt, Disk Management, File Explorer, Run, and more. Alternatively, you can right-click on the bottom right corner of the screen to spawn the Quick Access Menu.
• The Windows key + I opens the settings menu, giving you quick access to the Control Panel, Personalization, and your Power button, among other features.
• The Windows key + O locks orientation on devices with an accelerometer.

Zoom in tight

See all your tiles and groups at once with semantic zoom.

The Start Screen is full of nice, big, chunky tiles that represent all your apps. The tiles are easy to see in small groups, but what if you have hundreds of apps installed? Most will be hidden from view, unless you want to do a lot of scrolling. Enter the new semantic zoom feature. If you’re using a touch display, squeeze the Start screen with two fingers to receive a bird’s eye view of your entire screen contents. And the feature is also available to mouse and keyboard users: Simply hold down the Ctrl button, and use your mouse wheel to zoom in and out.

Categorize your apps

Start screen customization for the organized.

Your Start screen can become a cluttered mess if you collect too many apps and other elements that have been pinned to the screen as tiles, so take advantage of built-in organization tools that let you divide everything into labeled groups.

First, drag all the tiles you want to assign to a single group to the far right-hand side of your Start screen in vacant territory; the OS should sequester the tiles together. Once you're satisfied with your assembly, use semantic zoom (described above) to get a bird's eye view of your desktop. Now right-click the group (or simply drag down on it), and select the "Name group" option on the left of the bar that appears below. Type in the name, and enjoy your newly organized Start screen!

Top 10 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 helps 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 opens 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 allows you to access the Start screen, if you're in the Start screen and have the Desktop open, this corner opens the Desktop from the Start screen.

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

Top-left corner of the screen

Moving the mouse to the top-left corner and then down displays 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 WindowsCharms.

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 want 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 makes 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 picture below, 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 gives you PDF support right out of the box.

SkyDrive

The SkyDrive app gives 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.

Know the answers to common questions

Windows 8 is the biggest change to Microsoft Windows since the introduction of Windows 95, which was released all the way back in 1995. Since so many people have grown up with Windows, it can be difficult to transition to a new way of doing things. Below, is a short list of the most common questions previous Windows users have.

• How can I close an app in Windows 8?
• How do I sleep, restart, or shut down Windows 8?
• How do I get the start button back in Windows 8? 

Know the Jargon

Knowing all the new jargon introduced with Windows 8 help improve your familiarity with Windows 8 and make it a more enjoyable experience. Below, are just a few links to the most commonly used Windows 8 terms.

• Charms
• Lock screen
• Picture password
• Pin
• Power User Task Menu
• Snapped app
• Speed bump
• Start screen
• Tile, User Tile, and Live Tile
• Windows Store 

Apple beats Samsung as Galaxy fades

Samsung used every trick it knew to climb the smartphone pile, but its days as king of the castle are numbered as Galaxy sales growth crumbles before stiffening competition, from market bottom and market top.

Reading the waters

You'd have to be blind not to see this in the latest company results, in anticipation to which its earnings multiple tanked on the Korean stock exchange. Unless the company gets something right soon, these results are not a blip, but a new trend's beginning.At the top end of the market Apple has the advantage, yet again. Not only are smartphone sales stalling in significant markets across the planet as customers prepare to migrate from Android to iPhone, or to replace the "Designed in Cupertino" devices they already own, but Apple's existing products have the kind of mojo the "Made in Korea" mob mock but cannot match.That's why the iPhone 5S remains the world's leading premium device while the "failed" iPhone 5C actually sells more units per week than Samsung's top end Galaxy -- it's a great present for Android users.Samsung's feeling the pressure at the low end of the market, too. This is because there's a swathe of equally well-made (?) and well-designed (?) Galaxy alternatives taking chunks out of the company's sales, despite its subsidized prices. Brands like Huawei and Lenovo are cleaning up.

Cheap imitation

The Korean firm's attempts to create a unique product are severely limited by use of the same Android OS. And the alternatives are cheaper. Indeed, whenever you read about a low-cost brand impacting Apple's smartphone share you should replace the word "Apple" with "Samsung", as that’s the company that's really feeling the pain.These are just some of the reasons why Samsung's mobile phone arm has experienced such a rapid decline in growth across the last 12-months. After all in Q2 2013 the company's smartphone arm saw revenues up 47.8 percent year-on-year; fast forward to the current quarter and these are in decline.And Apple hasn't shipped a new smartphone model since last year.Samsung's sparkle (if it ever had any) is sizzling out. A fast-burning star that used and abused anything it took to reach the high point, and is now falling fast as the oxygen burns out. That's Samsung's smartphone galaxy.

Facts and fictions

You don't see it reported quite like that yet. A Bloomberg headline yesterdayoriginally read, "Samsung profit misses estimates as cheap phones struggle", (you can see it in the URL), but the story title eventually changed to "Samsung sees phone rebound after earnings miss estimates" (based incidentally on one analyst's prediction of future events). I won't discuss the need for news reports to be based on facts rather than fiction: though the first headline reflects facts, while the second reflects events that have not yet taken place, which is fiction. One is a news report. The other is a blog.This blogger thinks Samsung is failing.There is no good reason to expect its smartphone sales to bounce across the next quarter. Not only is this quarter traditionally flat as people go on vacation, but most consumers already want to see what they will get in the iPhone. (As future ChangeWave surveys will confirm).

Made in ChinaWhat is interesting in the Bloomberg report is the tacit admission that the fate of the Apple versus Samsung fight will be sealed in China. That's interesting because Chinese Apple fans are crazy enough to sell body parts to get an Apple product. Does Samsung have this? No. And iPhones are made in china

                                           Samsung's Galaxy star is done.

Will an Android-powered Nokia Lumia line kill off Windows Phone?

The rumor mill says that Microsoft will release an Android-powered Nokia Lumia phone -- a smartphone line that has been the flagship for Windows Phone. If true, will it mean the demise of Windows Phone?

The Web site @evleaks reports that Microsoft and Nokia will release a Lumia phone based on Android, but gave no details about release date or specs. The site has generally a good track record, so shouldn't be ignored, even though there's no way to confirm this latest rumor.

The move would not be as big a surprise at it first might appear. Microsoft and Nokia have committed themselves big-time to Android, primarily through Nokia's initial X and more recent X2 line of budget-priced Android phones targeted at the developing world. The phones carry Microsoft services such as OneDrive, Skype, and Outlook.com rather than Google services on them, which is how Microsoft will make money on them. Their big-tiled interface also mimics Windows Phone. The hopes are that when users in the developing world move up the economic ladder, they'll buy higher-price Windows Phone once they're hooked on Microsoft services and used to a Windows Phone-like interface.

So far, though, Microsoft and Nokia has avoided committing to Nokia in the developed world, where the Lumia line is sold. The Lumia line is Nokia's flagship, and typically are higher-priced phones.

But there's a problem with Windows Phone and the Lumia line. It's tanking.The latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech show that Windows Phone sales are sinking in the U.S. and China, and stalling in Europe, where it had met with some success. In the U.S. in May its market share was 3.8%, down from 4.7% a year previous. In China, its market share was a barely measurable 0.6% in May, compared to 3% a year ago. So Windows Phone is in trouble in the two largest smartphone markets in the world.

In Europe, things are only marginally brighter. In the five biggest European Union countries, its market share in May was at 8.1%, up from 7.1% a year ago. That's now as good as it sounds, though. Back in November 2013, Windows Phone market share in those countries was 10%. So its market share in Europe appears to be on a downward trend.

Given all this, an Android-powered Lumia makes sense. Microsoft and Nokia would use the same strategy in the developed world as they are in the developing world: Stuff Windows services on the devices instead of Google ones. Microsoft would make money via its services.

But then what happens to Windows Phone? My guess is that even if Android-powered Lumias sell well, and Windows Phone continues to tank, Microsoft will still prop up Windows Phone. It would be too much of a public admission of failure to give up on Windows Phone entirely. And it's possible that once people got used to the big-tiled interface of Android Lumia phones, they might eventually switch to Windows Phone. Possible, but not likely. Still, even if Microsoft and Nokia roll out Android Lumia phones, Windows Phone will likely be kept alive.

If you care about online privacy, then the NSA cares about targeting you

If you care about online privacy, then the NSA cares about you…about spying on you. At least that is the gist of a story that privacy experts believe originated from a second NSA leaker. You may not have the required "balls of steel to operate a Tor exit node," but a new report based on a NSA-flavored leak shows that using Tor at all, or simply visiting privacy-related websites like theTor Project (The Onion Router), Tails (The Amnesic Incognito Live System) and the Linux Journal paints a bull’s-eye on your back and marks you as a “target” for surveillance.

Thanks to Edward Snowden, we know the NSA program XKeyscore is devoted to collecting “nearly everything a user does on the Internet.” But now XKeyscore rules have been leaked, “top secret NSA source code” rules that decide who gets targeted for indefinite surveillance….and that means you if you care about online privacy. The story by Jacob Appelbaum, John Goetz, Lena Kampf first appeared inGerman on Tagesschau, but researchers then did an English version write-upabout the investigation into the NSA targeting the privacy-conscious:

Merely searching the web for the privacy-enhancing software tools outlined in the XKeyscore rules causes the NSA to mark and track the IP address of the person doing the search. Not only are German privacy software users tracked, but the source code shows that privacy software users worldwide are tracked by the NSA.

Among the NSA's targets is the Tor network funded primarily by the US government to aid democracy advocates in authoritarian states.

The XKeyscore rules reveal that the NSA tracks all connections to a server that hosts part of an anonymous email service at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It also records details about visits to a popular internet journal for Linux operating system users called "the Linux Journal - the Original Magazine of the Linux Community", and calls it an "extremist forum". 

Boing Boing’s Cory Doctorow said

More importantly, this shows that the NSA uses "targeted surveillance" in a way that beggars common sense. It's a dead certainty that people who heard the NSA's reassurances about "targeting" its surveillance on people who were doing something suspicious didn't understand that the NSA meant people who'd looked up technical details about systems that are routinely discussed on the front page of every newspaper in the world. 

Tor was originally created by the U.S. Navy, but has become a tool to circumvent censorship and is also used by journalists and “individuals in abusive relationships to help protect their privacy and physical safety." Although the rule for monitoring the Tor Project's website was tweaked to supposedly avoid collecting info on people believed to be located within “Five Eyes” countries – Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S. – “Five Eyes” are not excluded in other rules.

Tails “software is used by journalists, human rights activists, and hundreds of thousands of ordinary people who merely wish to protect their privacy,” but a comment in the NSA’s XKeyscore source code describes Tails as "a comsec mechanism advocated by extremists on extremist forums." The report added that other privacy-centric services are also monitored, including HotSpotShield, FreeNet, Centurian, FreeProxies.org, MegaProxy, Privacy.li and MixMinion.

After discussions with technical experts who worked on Snowden leaks, Doctorow noted:

One expert suggested that the NSA's intention here was to separate the sheep from the goats -- to split the entire population of the Internet into "people who have the technical know-how to be private" and "people who don't" and then capture all the communications from the first group.

Bruce Schneier added, “It's hard to tell how extensive this is. It's possible that anyone who clicked on this link -- with the embedded torproject.org URL above -- is currently being monitored by the NSA. It's possible that this only will happen to people who receive the link in e-mail….Whatever the case, this isvery disturbing.”

Although the source for the code was not revealed, the report says former NSA experts "are convinced that the same code or similar code is still in use today." Additionally, both Doctorow and Schneier believe the information came from a second NSA leaker, possibly the same source leaked the TAO catalogue. Back in January, after Jacob Appelbaum’s To Protect and Infect [pdf] presentation, we looked at 17 exploits the NSA uses to hack PCs, routers and servers for surveillance. At that time, Appelbaum said, “If you work for the NSA, I’d like to encourage you to leak more documents. I’ll be available until I am assassinated to answer questions.”

In response to this news about XKeyscore rules, the NSA claimed "the communications of people who are not foreign intelligence targets are of no use to the agency." That hardly rings true in light of the Washington Post’s investigation into actual NSA-intercepted communications; the Post found nine of 10 account holders “were not the intended surveillance targets but were caught in a net the agency had cast for somebody else.” So that makes the NSA’s newest statement appear to be no more than government-sponsored word games…surprise, surprise, or not so much at all.

If you care about online privacy but have not read the report in full, please do. Other folks like Errata Security suggested steps people could take to jam XKeyscore.

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Mobile health: Who'll keep your secrets, Apple or Google?

With HealthKit, Google Fit and the others, it's as if every big tech firm is suddenly waking up to making your health part of their business -- but who are you going to trust with your personal health data?

Trust in me

Apple seems committed to keeping your private data private. Google is into this myth called "open," which means all your information should be available, even while it keeps its own algorithms and business strategies private. Information should be free -- for Google.

However, when it comes to digital health, both firms must deliver data security due to a provision inside HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability and Accessibility Act). This sets out requirements for the privacy of user data (Protected Health Information, or PHI) for both medical pros and business associates such as app developers, hosting providers and so on.

What these provisions mean is that information about you -- your heart rate or blood pressure, for example -- needs to be protected once it reaches medical professionals. Given that the full benefit of digital health solutions pretty much demands that data get to medical pros at some point, then it seems clear both platform providers will need to double down on privacy. And Google is no goodat privacy -- like Facebook, it doesn't seem to understand it.

Apple v. Google

TrueVault is a company with expertise in HIPAA compliance for healthcare apps, so I spoke with TrueVault's Morgan Brown to learn a little more:

"It's hard to say who will handle privacy the best," he said. "However, there are some immediate differences. Apple is launching its health initiative with the Health app as a key part of the platform and integrations built with the app and hospitals using the EPIC EMR software. The Healthkit API will allow developers to plug into this data, but their preliminary API docs don't reveal much beyond that. Apple has met with the FDA to discuss the implications of this data collection."

In other words, Apple is already working with regulators to develop a secure connected health platform that keeps your private patient data private.

Typical Google…

"Google on the other hand, is taking a more typical Google approach, in creating the platform and APIs but not announcing their own app," said Brown. "If this open versus closed paradigm plays out as it has in the past, you can expect Apple to hold tighter reigns on access to data by third party apps and Google to be more hands off.

"Apple will likely be more proactive about managing access than Google will," he said.

Sounds about right...

The danger for Apple and Google is that if an unauthorized third party finds a way to crack data from either platform, they may be liable to prosecution if a vulnerability in their platform enabled the data to be compromised.

Who to trust?

Which of Apple or Google is safe?

I'm not sure we can guarantee safety, but we can already see that Apple is far more focused on user privacy and security than its competitor.

Google's lax security model is and always has been a magnet for organized crime, and this is why 97 percent of mobile malware is on Android. What does this mean? It means that if Google's health solutions succeed but are security compromised (which seems inevitable given the inherent weakness of its platform security) then Google is liable for prosecution under HIPAA. But this may not matter much if personal data belonging to millions is already in the public domain as a result.

If privacy matters to you, Apple seems safest at the moment, if not yet completely safe.

Google+? If you use social media and happen to be a Google+ user, why not join AppleHolic's Kool Aid Corner community and join the conversation as we pursue the spirit of the New Model Apple?