Windows 8
was made available last week and some of you have probably taken up Microsoft's attractive upgrade offer. Unless you have been using the beta (a.k.a the Consumer Preview), you may find the new Metro interface confusing. There's little doubt that Windows 8 has a learning curve, but there are also valid reasons to upgrade to the new version.
If you're one of those who have taken the plunge, here are five important tips that may improve your experience with Windows 8.
Know your keyboard shortcuts
If you have a touch-capable Windows 8 PC, that's great. For the most part, you'll do fine by focusing on the new touch gestures and they even translate directly to the touchpad.
If you're using a mouse, remember the four corners (or as Microsoft dubs them, "hot corners") of the screen. Moving or hovering your mouse pointer at these locations are analogous to the touch gestures. Microsoft covers these gestures (for both touch and mouse) in the video tutorials here.
However, we would still recommend that you bone up on some of the more common keyboard shortcuts, just because they are so useful. Here are our top 10 favorites:Windows logo key Brings up the Start menu, start typing to search for an app
Windows logo key +c Opens the Charms bar, which includes the Search, Share, Devices and Settings
Windows logo key + D Displays or hides the desktop
Windows logo key + E Opens My Computer
Windows logo key +F Open the Charms bar to search for files
Windows logo key + Q Open the Charms bar to search for apps
Windows logo key + R Opens the Run dialog box in the desktop
Windows logo key + Tab Cycles through open apps (Metro-only); use Alt + Tab for desktop programs
Windows logo key + PrintScreen Captures the current screen, saving it to the Pictures folder
Alt + F4 Closes an app
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