Category Archives: Windows 8

Your entertaining and educational Summer School is here!

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Let the Geek Speak!Here’s your technology and soft skills summer school. Attend Millennium Manager – How to Supervise and Manage in the Digital Age at no cost with the discount code ManageMe. Move from zero to hero with Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint with the popular Excelling @ Excel series and How to present like a Pro – PowerPoint Pizazz. Also, Office 365/2013/2013 and Windows 8 in August. Stay tuned and stay informed.
Here are the links to register with the subjects, dates, and times:

Windows 8 or Windows Hate: You decide

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Read the full article – Windows 8 or Windows Hate: You Decide Article

Here are honest eight points about Windows 8.1 from my clients and me – “average” users (if there ever was such a thing as an average user!). To be fair, four points are Love it and four points are Hate it. You decide – do you love Windows 8.1 or is it Windows hate for you?

  1. Love it! Touch me, Touch me – The touch screen capabilities are great and you can even right click (or secondary mouse click) to get shortcut menus through tap and hold on the screen.
  2. Hate it! So darn buggy it needs an exterminator! Windows 8 has more updates than you could count and will update when you need your computer the most (or so it seems) and the system declares, “Do not turn off your computer.”
  3. Love it! Ribbons and Quick Access Toolbar. Adopting the Microsoft Office Ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar interface, the Windows 8 ribbons allow you to get to great features quickly and easily, such as managing your drives, showing your file extensions, and using check boxes to select files.
  4. Hate it! Downgrade instead of Upgrade. After upgrading existing machines from Windows 7, I felt as if I had been downgraded instead of upgraded. Do not upgrade existing computers wait until you purchase a new computer that has a touch screen with Windows 8.1
  5. Love it! Cloudy with a chance of productivity. Windows 8 is very cloud friendly and works fantastic with OneDrive, Dropbox, etc.
  6. Hate it! Looked good on paper, but. . The idea of having an operating system appear and act the same on various devices looked good on paper (even I was excited and got Windows 8 on the release date), but in reality, many of us use our smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktops differently. However, time will tell as we acquaint ourselves with Windows 8.
  7. Love it! Have it your way – I like customizing my desktop and taskbar, plus moving, resizing, and grouping tiles on the start screen apps are terrific
  8. Hate it! Need improved apps. While some of the preloaded Start screen apps, like weather, are good. You may want to avoid some of the store apps you can download. Pay attention to reviews and comments about the app before installing. Use your desktop apps for multitasking, more functionality, split screens, etc. instead of the start screen apps.

Projection Pane Shortcut

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TechTip: After connecting your computer to a projector or additional monitor, you may need to change your display settings. On your keyboard, pressing the Windows Key with the P key activates the Project pane for you to select the display you would like, such as Duplicate usually for projectors or Extend usually for a second monitor or display. No need to wade through the Control Panel for these settings. The Windows 8.1 screen appears below; Windows 7 the pane is horizontal but works the same. You may access this through your Charms bar, too.

Project.

Windows 8.1: Tip 3 of 8 – Keyboard Shortcuts

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Thankfully our good, old (and some new) keyboard shortcuts are available. No matter what keyboard device you use tablet, laptop, or desktop these Windows shortcuts save time.

Click here for a free download of my Windows 8 or Windows 7 PDF cheat sheet of more shortcuts, but here are some of my favorite:

Windows 8.1 - Some of my favorite shortcut keys

Windows 8.1 – Some of my favorite shortcut keys

 

Windows 8.1: Tip 1 of 8 – The Start Screen – Off to a nice start

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Microsoft has taken the good, old familiar Start menu and promoted it to its own screen after the login screen. Initially reaction to this new screen was less than enthusiastic (awful) by many users as we were use to our Desktop and Start button The new Start screen looks the same on any Windows device which is nice to have the same look and feel of our operating system no matter the device plus Windows 8 has great touch screen abilities.

You may right click using a mouse or tap and hold for a moment using a touchscreen to get a menu at the bottom of your screen that allows you some neat and productive actions for each of your application’s tile, such as Pin to your Taskbar, Pin to your Start, Uninstall, and other options. Some customize options offer the resize option for your tiles. You may group your apps and rename the groups, too. You can click and drag your apps as you like to rearrange your tiles to suit your needs and organize your apps.

As pictured below, I have rearranged my apps and grouped them by my favorites and Microsoft Office on my Start screen.  If you click the arrow at the lower left of your Start screen or swipe up on a touchscreen, the All Apps view appears. This displays ALL of your apps, tools, accessories, and other items. I have my Outlook tile selected with the customize menu displayed at the bottom of this post. You should pin your favorite and often used apps to your Start screen and your taskbar from the All Apps view – we’ll learn later why this is helpful too you. So, have it your way and customize your Start screen.

Start Screen

Start Screen

Customize WIndows TIle

Customize Windows Tile

 

Mac Mavericks and Windows 7/8: Two Worlds – Part 1: What’s in a name

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Many of us live and work in two worlds – by day we may work on a PC and Windows 7 or 8 Operating Systems and then by night we may work on a Mac and Mavericks (any version of OS X), fortunately there are many similarities. We never know when we may be called upon to use either Operating System and associated device.

GOOD NEWS! The more we evolve the more Mac and Windows become similar (but I wouldn’t expect a merger, soon!). This series of articles and posts will demonstrate that we are not so different after all and helps everyone that uses a Mac and/or PC. Let’s first look at what is in a name.

First, the nomenclature with Mac Mavericks and Windows 7/8 while different in many cases represent the same functionality. Here is a table that displays the PC name and the Mac name of common items. Next, we’ll learn common keyboard and other shortcuts.

PC and Mac - What's in a name

PC and Mac – What’s in a name

 

 

 

Windows 8.1 PDF Manual

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Windows 8.1 has some great new features and to help you in your conversion I have a Windows 8.1 PDF 55+ page manual for you to order. The price is only $7.50 and includes a free Windows 8 keyboard/touchscreen short cut sheet for you. Learn how to make computing great with Windows 8! Click here to order your PDF manual and Windows 8 cheat sheet. Look for upcoming videos, too.

“I’ve had my Windows 8 laptop for several months now, just upgraded to 8.1 (after your webinar).  I learned more in the hour with you than the previous few months!”

Best,
Jan

Windows 8.1: Tip 2 of 8 – Start Menu (Sort of)

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Windows 8.1 Start button Shortcut menu

Windows 8.1 Start button Shortcut menu

Windows 8.1 – Tech Tip – The Mini Start Menu – On your Desktop you may right click (or for touchscreen press and hold for a moment) the Start button in the lower left corner to see a shortcut menu. The shortcut menu allows you to perform popular tasks, such as restarting and shutting down, and to navigate to the Control Panel, Task Manager, and File Explorer. This is a simplified version of our former Start menu and displays at left.

So, get off to a great Start early and often using this great menu!