As some of you may know, there's been a bit of a debate surrounding the absence of the traditional Start menu and the Start button in the Windows 8 Consumer Preview. Today, Microsoft has posted up a new entry on its Windows blog site that offers up some tips and tricks with using Windows 8. It also offers up a defense (kind of) for the company getting rid of the previous Start button and menu.
Microsoft's Kent Walker states:
The Start button has been one of the best known images in Windows for over sixteen years now. I’ll admit, when I look in the corner of my screen and just see an icon for Outlook, it’s still a little jarring. And I’ve been using Windows 8 for months now. So where did the Start button go? The short answer: it’s still there, it’s just on the right, and it looks a little different now. Also, you can still use the Windows logo key if you’re using your keyboard.
The new Start menu in Windows 8 also has a list of charms, including Search which by default is set to show all of the Windows 8 apps you have installed. Once you type in something the apps filter out until you find the one that best matches your search term. Windows 8 users can also use the Search charm while inside an app.
The Settings charm also changes when you are in the app such as showing the control panel in the desktop or accounts while using email. The new app bar also come into play when you use a Windows 8 Metro app. Each app has its own specific commands in the app bar, such as opening a new window in Internet Explorer 10.
The blog post also goes over some other Windows 8 tips and tricks such as right clicking on the lower left corner of the screen to show some power user features, snapping an app so you can show two apps running at once and more. There's also a new list of Windows 8 keyboard commands that you can check out for some shortcuts to doing tasks.
Image via Microsoft
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