The desktop in the Windows 8 beta offers no Start button and a few shortcuts. How can you easily populate it with your favorite programs? Lance Whitney is a freelance technology writer and trainer and ...

Microsoft introduced a completely redesigned user interface called Metro with the release of Windows 8, but it didn't make it easy to turn it off if you or your employees prefer desktop-based, ...

Windows 8 has two environments: the full screen, touch-centric Windows Store App interface (also called Metro) and the Desktop interface, which looks and acts like Windows 7. If you install programs ...

Windows 8 provides several ways to increase or decrease the size of the items on your desktop. If all you want to do is change the size of your desktop shortcut icons, you can use your mouse wheel or ...

Windows 8 is the most significant operating system update Microsoft has launched since Windows 95, and the first one designed to run on such a wide range of devices. ExtremeTech has split its coverage ...

Forget all of Microsoft’s hoopla about Windows 8‘s new Metro interface. If you’re a power user who relies on lots of legacy software, you’ll still be spending most of your time with the classic ...

Microsoft may be moving toward bringing back the Start button and allowing users to boot straight to the desktop with its coming Windows 8.1 release later this year. Mary Jo Foley Mary Jo Foley has ...

The desktop environment in Windows 8.1 is pretty good. This was not the message that Microsoft conveyed at its Windows 10 launch event last week, a presentation that had Microsoft’s historically ...

Windows 8 may not offer the option to boot a computer directly to the familiar desktop interface. Users running the final code of Windows 8 RTM have reported that the operating system must first boot ...

Windows 8 isn’t for everyone. If you’re mostly a desktop PC user comfortable with Windows 7, upgrading to Windows 8 is probably not worthwhile. If you’re a mobile user who needs easy access to the ...