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