Sometimes it seems like Windows 8 was designed to make orthopedists rich, because the new OS asks PC users to perform so many unnecessary clicks and mouse gestures. The most blatant waste of time and muscle movement is caused by the cutesy lock screen that you must close by either dragging it offscreen or clicking on it the faster method every time you boot or wake your computer.
Tablet users may like to see the weather and time when their devices are inactive, but on PCs, the display is nothing more than a giant roadblock that stands between you and your login prompt. Fortunately, you can make the lock screen disappear permanently. Since Microsoft designed Windows 8 with the world of always-on tablets in mind, the company thinks you'll need to shut down and restart so rarely that these functions are buried in the menu structure.
In Windows 7, the Shut Down button is displayed prominently on the Start menu, whereas in Windows 8, the suggested method is to pull out the Charms menu, click the Settings charm, click the Power button and then select Shut Down from a menu.
If you don't have time and shoulder muscles to waste, you can create your own shortcuts for both the Shut Down and Restart functions. Be sure to pin these shortcuts to the Start screen and taskbar for easy access. The first time you open Windows Mail, if the program doesn't recognize your login email address as Outlook or Hotmail.
You can, of course, use a different mail client, but if you want to stick with Windows Mail there's a simple solution. Set up your Outlook. In Outlook. One of Windows 8's selling points is its ability to handle multiple users. However, when you add users to your Windows 8 device, by default they aren't given permission to install desktop software on their own. Though they can install Windows 8 Metro-style apps to their heart's content, secondary users are asked for an administrator's password as soon as they launch a desktop installer.
Even after an administrator enters his or her password, Windows 8 installs the program but, in our experience, fails to put a shortcut on the secondary user's desktop, on the Start screen or on the All Apps menu.
The only way for the secondary user to launch his new app is to find its. However, in the name of conserving hard drive space, the application now uses what it calls "smart files," a feature which only stores some of your files locally, but makes it look as if all of them are available. Fix It: To make sure that SkyDrive actively downloads all of your files to your local hard drive, open File Explorer on the desktop.
Then right click on the SkyDrive icon and select "Make available offline. SmartScreen filter stops you from installing apps If you need a nanny watching your every move and scolding you for downloading from the wrong crowd, Windows 8. More: How To Create a Windows 8.
The easiest way to find the shutdown option is to bring up the charms menu, hit settings, then hit the power button and select Shutdown. Fix It: If you want to shut down more quickly, simply right click on the desktop and select Shortcut from the New menu. However, on a laptop where you already have password protection, the lock screen is nothing more than a roadblock that makes you click one extra time before you can start or wake your PC.
Fix It: To get rid of Windows 8. IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. NBC News Logo. Covid Politics U. News World Opinion Business. See our article on how to replace the Start menu in Windows Imagine you've been riding a bike for many years, you know how to ride just fine and then you buy a new bike and it comes with training wheels soldered on and no gears to choose from.
That's the taskbar in Windows 11, which infantilizes users by taking away options they have had for years. One simple option that Windows 11 takes away is the ability to resize your taskbar. But there is a registry tweak that lets you choose among small, medium or large sizes. That's not very flexible, but it's something. With Windows 11's UI, Microsoft is like an arrogant chef who, after cooking your dinner, instructs the waiter to remove all the salt and pepper shakers from the table because they don't want you changing the flavor of their dish.
The software giant wants you to have your taskbar at the bottom of the screen and, if you want it on the top or side as you were able to in previous Windows versions, that's just too bad. Windows 11 does not provide any officially-supported way to move the taskbar. However, there's a registry hack that, as of this writing, will allow you to position your taskbar at the top of the screen, with a few caveats.
Most notably, while the taskbar will sit on the top of the screen if you perform this tweak, notifications, the calendar and volume menu will still be in the lower-right corner. The Start menu will be on top but align to the left side of the screen. Also, if you use the Start11 Start menu replacement, there's an option that allows you to align your taskbar to the top and, unlike the registry hack method, it aligns the menus with the taskbar.
Fix: If you still want the taskbar on top, even with those caveats, see our article on how to move the Windows 11 taskbar to the top. In both Windows 11 and 10, all the windows for one program are represented by a single taskbar button. So, if you have four Chrome browser windows open, there's just one for all of them.
However, in Windows 10, there was an option to give each Window its own button, complete with the window title in it. In Windows 11, that option is gone. I prefer having the taskbar icons uncombined, because it allows me to get a better sense of what I have open and an easier way to click through to it. Fortunately, there is a way around this Windows 11 problem. Microsoft's need to make decisions for you in Windows 11 is most evident in its strictly-enforced hardware requirements.
Where previous versions of the OS will run on just about any PC of the last 10 to 15 years, Windows 11 setup will prevent you from installing it on a system that doesn't have one of its limited list of supported AMD or Intel CPUs , which excludes many processors that were sold as recently as a couple of years ago first gen Ryzen for example.
Even worse, Microsoft insists you have TPM 2. The reason for these requirements is not performance, but enhanced security. The same steps will bypass the other requirements as well. It's no surprise that Windows 11 installs with Microsoft Edge as its default browser. However, what is annoying is that switching to Chrome requires some manual settings changes, at least at present. On Windows 10, when you switched to an alternative browser, you were able to set it as the default as part of the installation.
In Windows 11, it's not quite so simple. Not only can Chrome not do this on its own, at least at present, but there are several different settings to change. If you want Windows 11 to use Chrome instead of Edge for all things you might want a browser for, you'll have to manually change the assignment for.
Even after you make the changes in settings, clicking a link from Windows search or the widget panel will open in Edge. Fortunately, there are workarounds. Windows 10 shows your current temperature and weather in the taskbar , just to the left of the volume control and clock. I know not everyone likes this feature, which you can easily turn off, but I love it because it's great to get this information at a glance, without clicking anything.
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