JUMP START INTO WINDOWS 10 Donna Payne WWW.THEPAYNEGROUP.COM
Jump Start into Windows 10 There is a lot to celebrate with Microsoft Windows 10. There is the triumphant return of the Start button, more consolidation of configurable settings, automatic support for switching devices, Task view, Cortana, as well as the replacement of Internet Explorer with Microsoft Edge. While Windows 10 is fairly intuitive, there are some ways in which you can customize the operating system to work better for you that are not as easily discoverable. The following is a jump start into getting familiar with the new interface, and the aforementioned features that have been added in Windows 10. Start Button and Menu When Microsoft released Windows 8, there was a huge outcry from Windows 95 - Windows 7 users about the loss of functionality. With the release of Windows 10, Microsoft has combined the functionality of the Start button and menu, alongside the tiles introduced in Windows 8. To access the Start menu, click the Windows icon located on the far-left side of the Taskbar as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1- The Start menu is accessed by clicking the Windows icon. The expanded Start menu is divided into sections. The top-left most portion displays your name and picture if you ve previously added one to your profile.. If you haven t added a picture or configured the user settings, you can do so by clicking your name and selecting Change account settings. Just under your name are recently used applications. You cannot add items to this list; however, you can pin them to the tiled Start menu or the Task bar, or you can choose to not show them in the list by right-clicking and selecting the appropriate option from the shortcut menu. The options, including Don t show in this list, are shown in Figure 2. Figure 2 Remove an item from the list. Below the recently used list of applications are familiar settings in Windows that have just been relocated. The lower portion of the Start menu is shown in Figure 3. 1
Figure 3 Familiar options on the Start menu but with easier access. File Explorer The File Explorer command expands to show pinned or Frequent locations where you have saved and accessed files. To pin folders to the Quick Access list, right-click and choose Pin to Quick access. Figure 4 The File Explorer window is where you locate Quick access files. The File Explorer window is show in Figure 4. The keyboard shortcut to open up the traditional File Explorer Window is Windows key + E. Settings The Settings option on the Start menu is the fastest way to access most of the settings that you ll need to customize Windows 10. Settings here include System, Devices, Network and Internet, Personalization, Accounts, Time & Language, Ease of Access, Privacy (new), and Update & Security. Settings are shown in Figure 5. 2
Figure 5 The Settings window provides quick access to customizing and configuring Windows 10. If you can t find the setting that you are looking for, just click inside the Find a setting box in the upperright corner of the window and type the setting you are trying to locate. More information on settings will be covered later. Power The Power command, when expanded, displays the options to Sleep, Shut Down or Restart. What s missing from previous versions is Sign Out or Lock. You can still Sign Out and Lock, but the commands aren t listed in Power options. To Sign-Out, right-click on the Start button and choose Shut Down or Sign Out. To lock the computer, press Windows key + L, as in previous versions of Windows, or click on your name in the Start menu and select Lock. All Apps To see an alphabetical listing of all installed applications on your computer, click All Apps. When this option is enabled, a scroll bar appears allowing you to scroll and move through all of the available options. Note that when scrolling, the left side of the Start menu is independent of the right, so the tiled icons remain in place as you scroll through the list. The expanded Apps menu is shown in Figure 6. 3
Figure 6 All installed Apps are shown in the Apps menu. Tiles While the left side of the Start menu is filled with commands reminiscent of Windows 95 and Windows 7, the right side is all Windows 8 and Windows 10. Tiles display to help you quickly locate and open applications. You can add tiles, remove them, resize, organize and move them around. You can even create custom groups and label them at will. The tiles by default are live and update to display current information as it s available. For instance, you might have News or Money tiles active, which constantly display new information. Live tiles are also useful for tracking sports scores, weather and other information. To turn off the live tiles option, right-click on the tile and choose Turn Live tile off as shown in Figure 7. Figure 7 Choose whether or not tiles should be Live and update. 4
Categories The default group names for the tiles can be changed to be more personalized for your work style. Just click above any of the tile areas and replace what appears with your own wording. For instance, Life at a glance is fun and catchy; however, you might prefer a different label such as Getting it under control or any such phrase or word. Organizing Tiles Tiles can be moved around by dragging and dropping one or more tiles into different locations. When you release a tile after dragging it to a new location, Windows 10 automatically moves things around to accommodate. Resizing Tiles If you re just working with a few applications, having the default sized tiles isn t a problem. If, however, you want to add more tiles to the window, you may wish to resize one or more of the tiles to make more room and decrease clutter. To change the size of the tiles, right-click on the individual tile and choose Resize. Select from Small, Medium, Wide and Large. Keep in mind that some tiles don t have all these options available. The result of resizing several tiles is shown in Figure 8. Figure 8 Note how the Solitaire and other icons have been made smaller while Get Office is now wider. Personalizing Windows 10 Most people have different preferences about how their computer desktop should look. This includes background, screen savers, colors, fonts and more. Previously, the Start menu option for Settings was discussed, now it s time to take a closer look at personalizing Windows 10. 5
To change basics options such as color, theme, background, lock and behavior, display the Start menu (click on the Windows icon in the Taskbar) and choose Settings. Click Personalization and the Settings: Personalization window appears as show in Figure 9. Figure 9 Specify how you would like Windows 10 to look. Background The Background settings include the options to change whether to show a picture, solid color or slide show. If a picture is desired, you can choose from one of the installed defaults, or browse to select a picture of your own. You can then choose to fit the picture to fill the screen, fit, stretch, tile, center or span. A preview displays at the top of the window to show how your changes will appear. Note that this is a live window and there are no Apply or Cancel buttons. 6
Colors Some individuals may wish to change the default colors for menus, desktops and other areas in their operating system. To do this, just select Colors in the Personalization window. The Colors section of the Personalization window is shown in Figure 10. Figure 10 Choose to automatically pick an accent color from the background or specify a different one. When you select different options in the Colors section of the window, options dynamically expand or collapse to show or hide applicable options. For instance, if Automatically pick an accent color from my background is turned off, then a list of available colors from which to choose will display. A preview in the window shows how the color will appear in Windows 10. 7
Lock screen To configure how the screen will look when locked, select the Lock screen option in the Personalization window. Here you choose which picture, if any, to display when the computer is locked, as well how certain apps notifications display. Figure 11 Customize how the computer looks and options available when it is locked. Themes The Themes option in the Personalization window includes shortcuts, by way of hyperlinks, to theme settings, advanced sound settings, desktop and mouse pointer icon settings. Start The options available in the Start section of the Personalization window include the ability to show most used apps, show recently added apps, Use start full screen, and show recently opened items in jump lists on Start or the taskbar. 8
By default, all of the options are enabled with the exception of Use Start full screen. This option is for those who prefer the look of Windows 8, or if you are using a Surface or other mobile device. When you have a Surface device with a keyboard attached, the option for Start full screen is off. If you detach the keyboard, the option becomes enabled. This is called Continuum, where the desired effect is to have Windows initially work the same across all types of Windows devices. The Start section of the window is shown in Figure 12. Figure 12 Configure the Start menu and options. Tablet Mode The Start full screen option previously described isn t the only thing that s different when working on tablet devices. There are a few more options that are accessible by clicking Start, Settings, and System. Tablet mode incudes options to make windows more touch-friendly, as well whether the options should automatically become enabled when the status of your device changes (for instance, when you detach the Surface keyboard or go into touch mode on a different device). The Tablet mode section of the System window is show in Figure 13. 9
Figure 13 Customize how Windows 10 operates when a tablet or touch device is being used. NOTE: If the icons disappear on your Taskbar, you are probably in Tablet mode. Turn the option off and they should return. Control Panel, Command Prompt, and Everything Else Most of the settings you ll need to access are available in Settings on the Start menu; however, if you are longing for the legacy Control Panel, it s still available by right-clicking on the Windows icon on the Task bar and choosing Control Panel. You ll find other useful commands on this shortcut menu as well. Task View Windows 10 introduces a new feature called Task View that helps you manage what appears in different windows. You ll find the Task View button/icon on the Task bar, just to the right of the Search the web and Windows box as shown in Figure 14. Figure 14 The newly added Task View feature is accessible from the Task bar. When clicked, Task View toggles between showing the window and a snapshot of all open applications and windows. The result of clicking Task view with many open windows and applications is shown in Figure 15. 10
Figure 15 A thumbnail view of open windows displays in Task View. Task View is in essence creating a virtual desktop on your computer where you can group certain programs and use them together for easier access. The real benefit to this feature, however, is that you can have multiple Task View desktops and they are easy to create when you need them and remove when they are no longer necessary. New Desktop In the lower-right portion of the desktop, when in Task View, is a button with a plus sign symbol that is labeled New Desktop. Click this to create a new desktop to be used when working in Task View. In Figure 16, you see that two desktops have been created. Open windows can be moved into these virtual spaces by clicking and dragging, or you can open up windows on each independently. Figure 16 Multiple desktops are available in Task View. Click Task View, then the desired desktop to move between them. To move between the desktop virtual windows, just click the Task View icon on the Task bar. You can have as many New Desktops as your system memory will allow. 11
Note: Mac and Linux users have had a feature similar to Task Views. Microsoft added this functionality in Windows 10 and it s incredibly useful for power users and people who frequently work with many open windows simultaneously. Navigation Navigation between open applications on each desktop is similar to previous versions of Windows. However, Alt+Tab, by default, will navigate only between open applications within the current desktop rather than all open windows. If you wish to change the default behavior so that Alt+Tab cycles you through all desktops and open windows, on the Start menu choose Settings. Under System, choose Multitasking and change the setting under Virtual Desktops. The ability to change the behavior of Alt+Tab when multitasking is shown in Figure 17. Figure 17 If you wish to press Alt+Tab to cycle through all windows, regardless of desktop, adjust the setting here. 12
Removing Desktops If you no longer need to all the desktops you created with Task View, you can delete them. Just click Task View and hover your mouse over the desktop that is no longer required. Click the X in the top-right corner of the thumbnail to remove it. Hiding or Temporarily Disabling Task View Some organizations may choose to hide the Task View as it introduces a new feature that may require some support to use and troubleshoot. If you find that the Task View button does not appear on your Task pane, or if you wish to turn it off, even temporarily, just right-click on an unused portion of the Task Pane and check (or uncheck) the option Show Task View button. The shortcut menu that controls what icons show on the Task bar is shown in Figure 18. Figure 18 The Task View icon, as well others, can be shown or hidden. A Few Other Notable Additions to Windows 10 Microsoft Edge Internet Explorer was officially retired by Microsoft with Windows 10. It was replaced with the more modern Microsoft Edge. Enterprise customers will still be able to access Internet Explorer for the immediate future to obtain legacy browser support, but eventually everyone will move to Edge. Address Bar Results One of the key feature benefits of Edge is that you can type a query and the result often keeps you in the same screen without having to open up additional windows. For example, Figure 19 shows the example of typing a stock query and displaying the results in place. 13
Figure 19 In place browsing keeps you in the same window to display results. Make a Web Note and Share it If you wish to make and share notes on a web page, you can now do this from within Edge. In the upperright corner of the screen, click Make a Web Note (the icon that resembles a picture) and then use the tools to click, draw and write directly on the page. Make a Web Note is shown in Figure 20. Figure 20 Capture and share your notes on any web page. To select a tool, change the pen colors, share the writing or exit Web Note mode, use the tools available as shown in Figure 21. Figure 21 Tools for marking up the web page and sharing. Reading List When you want to continue reading something at a later time, you can add that website to your reading list and the access it at a different time. To add an item to the Reading List, click the star icon (Add to Favorites or Reading List), click Reading List, and then click Add. 14
Cortana Cortana is a personal digital assistant that was created for Windows 8.1 and then later added for other technologies (for example, Microsoft Band, Windows Phone, and more). With Windows 10, you can speak to Cortana and have it look up and retrieve information for you. Cortana requires internet connect so you ll need to accept the privacy terms before it s available to you. To get started, click in the Search the web and Windows box next to the Start/Windows icon and follow the steps to get started. There could be a separate manual written just for Cortana alone; however, for brevity, just know that you can say Hey Cortana, or Hey Cortana Help to get immediate feedback. Many people have incorporated Cortana into their daily lives. They use it to manage their calendar and to do lists, to find the fastest way from one point to another, and to set alarms and much more. Cortana can be trained to better recognize your voice and speaking patterns so it can more easily integrate into your everyday life. Conclusion Windows 10 adds some fantastic and useful features. It accomplished a successful merger between the features and user interface of previous versions of Windows, without sacrificing the best parts that come from adding new and innovative features. Windows 10 is a powerful, easy to use operating system, an operating system that everyone can appreciate. 15