Create a shortcut to Mail app on desktop?

[moeburn]

Hey folks, my mom just got a new Windows 8.1 laptop, and I'm trying to guide her through it.  She wants to be able to launch Metro apps from Desktop mode, specifically the mail app.  Is that possible with a shortcut?  I know its possible if you open a file that is associated with an app, for example opening a PDF in desktop mode always opens Reader in Metro mode.  But I can't figure out how to make a desktop shortcut TO Reader, or Mail, or any of the other apps, without my little ghetto "workaround", which is to create a shortcut to a file associated with those apps.  I tried right clicking on 'mail', but there was no 'pin to desktop' or 'pin to taskbar' button.

[Max Norris]

Doesn't OblyTile give you an easy way to (among other things) pin modern apps anywhere you like?

[moeburn]

  On 27/11/2013 at 21:54, Max Norris said:

Doesn't OblyTile give you an easy way to (among other things) pin modern apps anywhere you like?

 

I don't know, does it?  I've never heard of it.  

 

And since when were they called "Modern" apps?  I thought they were called "Metro" apps!

 

edit: Ah, no, it seems OblyTile is the other way around.  It lets you put shortcuts to whatever desktop stuff you want into the Metro/Modern ui.  I want to put shortcuts to Metro/Modern apps on my desktop.

 

So, if it isn't possible, could someone reccomend an easy to use Mail app replacement for the Desktop UI for my mom?

[Max Norris]

  On 27/11/2013 at 21:57, moeburn said:

I don't know, does it?  I've never heard of it.

It does. If you don't want to look, here's a bit of copy/pasting.

 

The 4 apps, Mail, Messaging, Calendar and People are all represented by the single "microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps" item, so if you want to pin a shortcut to any of those, simply create a shortcut for it and then change the end of the target shortcut as follows:

Mail: ..microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_8wekyb3d8bbwe!Microsoft.WindowsLive.Mail

Calendar: ..microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_8wekyb3d8bbwe!Microsoft.WindowsLive.Calendar

Messaging: ..microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_8wekyb3d8bbwe!Microsoft.WindowsLive.Chat

People: ..microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_8wekyb3d8bbwe!Microsoft.WindowsLive.People

 

  On 27/11/2013 at 21:57, moeburn said:

And since when were they called "Modern" apps?  I thought they were called "Metro" apps!

It hasn't been called Metro for over a year now.

[moeburn]

  On 27/11/2013 at 22:03, Max Norris said:

It does. If you don't want to look, here's a bit of copy/pasting.

 

The 4 apps, Mail, Messaging, Calendar and People are all represented by the single "microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps" item, so if you want to pin a shortcut to any of those, simply create a shortcut for it and then change the end of the target shortcut as follows:

Mail: ..microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_8wekyb3d8bbwe!Microsoft.WindowsLive.Mail

Calendar: ..microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_8wekyb3d8bbwe!Microsoft.WindowsLive.Calendar

Messaging: ..microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_8wekyb3d8bbwe!Microsoft.WindowsLive.Chat

People: ..microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_8wekyb3d8bbwe!Microsoft.WindowsLive.People

 

It hasn't been called Metro for over a year now.

 

Allright, is there any way to do it without having to install extra software?  This was one of the things I actually expected to find easily; a way to quickly get out of Desktop mode and straight to a specific Modern app?  Microsoft is DYING to get people into Modern UI, why didn't they think of this?

 

Could you try something for me; create a shortcut to the Mail app using your OblyTile program, and then open the shortcut's properties dialog and tell me what the target command line is?

[_dandy_]

  On 27/11/2013 at 21:51, moeburn said:

Hey folks, my mom just got a new Windows 8.1 laptop, and I'm trying to guide her through it.  She wants to be able to launch Metro apps from Desktop mode, specifically the mail app.  Is that possible with a shortcut?  I know its possible if you open a file that is associated with an app, for example opening a PDF in desktop mode always opens Reader in Metro mode.  But I can't figure out how to make a desktop shortcut TO Reader, or Mail, or any of the other apps, without my little ghetto "workaround", which is to create a shortcut to a file associated with those apps.  I tried right clicking on 'mail', but there was no 'pin to desktop' or 'pin to taskbar' button.

 

I'd stick with your "ghetto workaround".  You're not slowing down the launch process by any appreciable measure doing it the way you describe it.

[Marshall Veteran]

Just make a new shortcut on your desktop and set the location to  

 

Give the new shortcut a name and click finish.

[Ice_Blue]

Just paste this into a new desktop shortcut:

 

 

C:\Windows\explorer.exe shell:::{4234d49b-0245-4df3-b780-3893943456e1}

 

 

Your modern apps will show up in a desktop folder.

 

Tell her to double-click the mail icon.

[Dutchie64]

Tell her to use the start screen, the 'shortcuts' are all there.....