Paul Thurrott - Windows 8 Secrets

The SkyDrive application and Remote Fetch aren’t really features of Windows 8, per se, so we won’t waste too much space on them here. But you should know that this application is available, since this functionality will make your Windows 8 experiences even richer.

Figure 4-44:Access and sync your SkyDrive storage from File Explorer.

While Microsoft is very clearly heading to a future in which increasingly sophisticated and full-featured versions of the Metro user experience will eventually squeeze out the classic Windows desktop, we’re a long way from that future. And honestly, Metro and the desktop will coexist for the foreseeable future, thanks to the over one billion PCs out there still running classic Windows applications and the vast depth of experience that users have with this environment.

Fortunately, Microsoft hasn’t left desktop users in the lurch with Windows 8. This version of Microsoft’s client OS includes deep integration with new core Metro user experiences, and many desktop-related improvements like a new File Explorer, a new Task Manager, a new file copy and move experience, and more. So even if you spend most of your day in the desktop, Windows 8 will be a useful and desirable upgrade.

• Customizing the lock screen

• Customizing the Start screen

• Customizing app tiles and tile groups

• Customizing user account pictures and other settings

• Customizing settings and settings sync

• Customizing the desktop

• Using a multi-monitor setup more efficiently

• Using Libraries with SkyDrive

• Easing the transition between Metro and the desktop

• Booting (almost) directly to the desktop

With its brand-new Metro interface, you won’t be surprised to discover that there are new ways in which to customize Windows 8 to work the way you want it to. Aside from the app-specific tweaks we discuss throughout this book, Windows 8 provides an entirely new PC Settings interface for customizing many Metro- and system-level features; new personalization features for the lock screen, Start screen, and app tiles; and more.

And customizing Windows 8 is not just about Metro. As with previous versions of Windows, this OS also provides a number of ways in which you can customize the Windows desktop, including useful new multi-monitor capabilities that will be valuable in a number of usage scenarios, especially for those who pick up a new Windows 8 (or RT) tablet and decide to dock it to a larger display—and a keyboard and mouse—at home or at work.

Rounding out the Windows 8 customization capabilities are a handful of ways in which you can make the Metro and desktop environments interact a bit more seamlessly with each other. Ultimately, the goal here is to help you make Windows 8 work the way you want it to.

When it comes to customizing the Metro user experience, you’ll be spending much, but not all, of your time in the new PC Settings, a Metro-based interface that partially replaces—augments, really—the old Control Panel interface from older Windows versions.

The easiest way to access PC Settings will depend on the type of PC or device you’re using and whether you prefer to use the keyboard, mouse, or touch screen.

• Keyboard:Those who prefer keyboard shortcuts should remember the Winkey + I shortcut, which displays the Settings pane from anywhere in Windows 8. This pane, shown in Figure 5-1, provides two areas: a top area that is context-sensitive to the experience—Start screen, desktop, or Metro-style app—you’re currently viewing and a bottom area that is global, and thus the same everywhere. That is, the top area will look different depending on what you’re doing at the time, whereas the bottom area will always look the same.

Figure 5-1:The Settings pane

Here, you’re concerned with the bottom area. Below the grid of system icons, you’ll see a link titled Change PC settings. Select that to access PC Settings.

• Mouse and touch:Those with a touch screen, or those who prefer to the use the mouse, will find that accessing the Charms bar, as shown in Figure 5-2, and then Settings, will be the easiest route. Then, from Settings, click the link Change PC settings.

Figure 5-2:You can get to Settings and then PC Settings from the Charms bar.

Accessing the Charms bar, of course, varies a bit between the two interfaces. For touch, simply swipe in from the right edge of the screen. With a mouse, you need to move the mouse cursor into the upper- or lower-right corner of the screen and then move the cursor along the right edge of the screen toward the center-right edge of the screen; as you do, the Charms bar will appear.

However you access it, the PC Settings interface should resemble Figure 5-3.

OK, got your bearings? Good; let’s go customize the Metro interfaces in Windows 8!

Figure 5-3:PC Settings

In Windows 8, the lock screen has taken on renewed importance and it now works much like the lock screen on Windows Phone handsets. This is by design: While users of traditional PCs will be a tad uninterested in the lock screen, the success of Windows 8 hinges in part on a new generation of iPad-like tablets and other nontraditional devices. And on these machines, the lock screen can behave as a nice “glance and go” front end to the time and date and your daily activities, with a favorite photo as the backdrop.

The lock screen is customized in PC Settings, Personalize, Lock screen. Since this is the default view in PC Settings, you won’t have to do much navigating unless you’ve previously used PC Settings for some other purpose.

There are three basic lock screen features you can customize in PC Settings: the background picture, which apps can run in the background while the PC is locked and provide simple status updates via the lock screen, and which app can run in the background while the PC is locked and provide detailed status updates.

• Background picture:If you click or tap the Browse button, you can use a standard Metro-style File Picker interface to find a favorite photo and use that as the lock screen’s background. If you’re not familiar with this interface, shown in Figure 5-4, note that it can be used to find pictures not just on your local PC, but also via an online service for which you’ve installed a compatible app. For example, installing the SkyDrive app lets you navigate your SkyDrive-based storage as well.

Figure 5-4:With the File Picker, you can find the perfect lock screen background image.

• Lock screen apps with basic status updates:The lock screen can be configured with up to seven notification icons that provide simple status updates from your favorite apps. Not all Metro-style apps support this functionality, so you can tap an empty square (denoted by the “+” sign) to see which apps are available, as shown in Figure 5-5.