Paul Thurrott - Windows 8 Secrets

Finally, it’s worth noting that the Windows Flip 3D task-switching interface that was available in both Windows Vista and 7 is no longer available in Windows 8. Now, the Windows Flip 3D keyboard shortcut—Winkey + Tab—activates Switcher instead. Sorry, Flip 3D fans.

Figure 4-40:Windows Flip now works with both Metro-style app and desktop applications.

As with the task-switching functionality described earlier, Windows has also offered an interface called Task Manager that, among other things, provides a way for users to manually kill processes and applications. It’s perhaps a sad statement that this interface is one of the most frequently used tools in Windows, but there you go. And in Windows 8, it’s gotten its most impressive upgrade in years, with a simple new user interface that offers a superset of the functionality from previous versions.

You can also access Task Manager from the power user tasks menu that appears when you activate the Start tip and right-click the Start tip thumbnail as described previously in this chapter.

Task Manager is accessible many ways, but the simplest is the tried-and-true method of right-clicking a blank area of the taskbar and choosing Task Manager from the context menu that appears. As you can see in Figure 4-41, the Windows 8 version of Task Manager offers a much simpler interface by default than its predecessors.

From this very simple interface, you can right-click an application and perform a number of actions, the most commonly used of which are End task (kill the application dead), Switch to (to bring that application to the forefront), and Open file location (which will display the application executable in File Explorer). But since End task is the single most common option, there’s a button just for that: To kill any application immediately, select it in Task Manager and click End task.

While it’s possible that the End task button and right-click menu will meet most users’ needs, the power users in the audience are probably looking at the interface and thinking that there are many missing features. But that’s only true because they’re hidden by default. Click More details and Task Manager will expand into a power user’s dream come true. Not only are all the capabilities from the Windows 7 Task Manager present, but there are new capabilities here as well. The advanced Task Manager interface is shown in Figure 4-42.

Figure 4-41:The simpler new Task Manager

Figure 4-42:Task Manager’s advanced UI

There’s a lot going on here, but the highlights include:

• Filtering for better application management:Using the various columns available in the Processes tab—CPU, Memory, Disk, Network, and so on—you can filter and pivot the view of running processes using a visual heat map view and get a better idea of how individual applications are impacting system performance. By filtering on Memory, for example, you can see which applications are sucking up the most RAM.

Try not to micro-manage Metro-style apps. Unless one is hanging, there’s little reason to kill it from Task Manager. Windows 8 will automatically close Metro-style apps when needed.

• Metro-style apps and desktop applications managed together:As you may have noticed, Task Manager lets you manage both traditional desktop applications and new Metro-style apps. And you do so with the same interface and commands.

Metro-style apps cannot auto-start at boot time.

• Manage startup applications:Task Manager now provides an excellent new capability on its Startup tab that helps you manage which desktop applications—not Metro-style apps—auto-start when Windows boots.

• Services:Users who wished to manage system services previously needed to use the Services control panel. While this control panel is still available in Windows 8, Microsoft replicates it in the Task Manager as well. In retrospect, this is a fairly obvious place for this functionality.

Windows 7 includes a fantastic feature called Start Menu Search. To use it, you simply tap the Start button, type the term you’re looking for, and the search results are returned right in the Start menu. It provides an amazingly handy way to quickly find an application you want without mousing around the labyrinthine Start menu submenus.

OK, fine. But with Windows 8 doing away with the Start menu, you may be wondering how you can accomplish the same feat in the new operating system version.

Surprise: It works exactly the same way.

You can also trigger app search by pressing Winkey + Q.

That is, if you’re using the desktop environment and would like to find and then run an application, just tap the Windows key on your keyboard (or otherwise return to the Start screen) and start typing. Instead of a Start menu–based search, you’ll see the new full-screen Search experience, now called Start Search, as shown in Figure 4-43. And it’s far more powerful than the old Start Menu Search.

This new Search experience now provides a filter capability where it returns both traditional Windows applications and Metro-style apps by default. But you can use the various items in the Search pane on the right to change the search to Settings (and control panels), Files (documents and other files), and, interestingly, within Metro-style apps that support this functionality.

Keep typing to refine the search. When you see the application (or app) you want, simply click (or tap, or select) it. If it’s a desktop application, the view will switch back to the desktop and the selected application will launch immediately.

Knowing that Start Search now works for settings, files, and apps, you’ll probably use it more than ever. But even if a desktop application search is all you need, you can rest easy knowing that one of Windows 7’s best features has carried forward to Windows 8.

If you know the type of search you wish to perform, you can use different keyboard shortcuts. Winkey + F works for file searches. And Winkey + W will jump right to settings search. Check the appendix for a full list of Windows key keyboard shortcuts.

Figure 4-43:The new Windows 8 Search experience

While Microsoft built SkyDrive support into the Metro environment, providing File Picker-based access to the files on that cloud service, as well as integrated setting sync for those who want it, there is one crucial bit missing for desktop users: you can’t natively navigate your SkyDrive storage using File Explorer.

Fortunately, you can overcome this issue by downloading a SkyDrive desktop application that integrates your SkyDrive storage with File Explorer, providing a libraries-like interface for exploring SkyDrive, copying and moving files to and from this cloud storage service, and syncing those files with your PC.

The SkyDrive desktop application works in Windows Vista and 7 as well.

Shown in Figure 4-44, the SkyDrive application integrates with File Explorer and also lets you upload large files (up to 2 GB in size) to the service, which isn’t possible through the normal web interface. And even more exciting, it provides a unique Remote Fetch functionality that lets you access files on remote PCs through the SkyDrive web interface.