windows 8 start screen

Still miss the classic Start menu in Windows 8? Never fear, alternatives are here.

Microsoft lopped off the Start menu in Windows 8 to force people to use the Start screen. And I'll admit it, the Start screen does offers several benefits.

Live Tiles can clue you in to the latest e-mails, appointments, news, and other information. You can easily search for any app, setting, or file just by typing its name.

But I still find the folder-structured Start menu the quickest and easiest way to launch any application when I'm already working in the desktop.

Those of … Read more

We recently showed you how to pin your favorite Web sites to the Windows 8 Start screen. By default, the tile may use the site's favicon.ico file or just display the generic Internet Explorer icon. If you operate a Web site, that may not be good enough for you. Here's how to give your site visitors a high quality tile to pin on their Windows 8 Start screens:

Step 1: Go to the Microsoft site, http://www.buildmypinnedsite.com, then under the "See your site in Windows 8" section, enter the URL of your Web … Read more

Windows 8 mockups from two years ago show more or less the same interface found in the OS today.

The mockups from 2010 were revealed in a keynote demonstration given by Jensen Harris, a director of program management for Microsoft's Windows User Experience Team. Dubbed "The Story of Windows 8," the demo was given during a UX Week conference held by design firm Adaptive Path.

As displayed by blog site iStartedSomething.com, images of the mockups show that Microsoft certainly tweaked some of the look and feel of Windows 8. But the overall design of the OS … Read more

Update, November 16, 2012: The method for pinning Web sites with Chrome was added to this blog post.

The Windows 8 Start screen comes prepopulated with lots of tiles, some of which you won't ever use. Instead of wasting that precious space, you can remove the tiles you don't use and pin your favorite Web sites to the Start screen for quick and easy access. Here's how:

Step 1: Open Internet Explorer from the Start screen and go to the Web site you want to pin.

Step 2: Click the pin icon in the lower right-hand corner … Read more

Feeling lost in Windows 8's Desktop mode? Not sure how to get back to the Start screen? It's simpler than you think. We've got three ways to get you back home to the colorful safety of Metro's tiles.

Use the Charms, Luke. Open the Charms bar, Windows 8's new superpowered sidebar. If you're on a touch screen, you can do this by swiping in from the right edge. If you've got a mouse, move the cursor to the upper-right-hand corner of your screen. Wait a moment, and the Charms will appear. Move the … Read more

Pokki for Windows 8 joins a growing list of Windows 8 Start menu utilities. How does the program fare?

SweetLabs' Pokki for Windows 8 fills in the gap for Windows 8 users who still want the traditional Start menu on their desktops. And you'll have to place me in that group.

Through I've become more accustomed to the Start screen over time, I still find the Start menu a quicker and more efficient way to launch any application installed on my PC.

I know you can open a program or file just by typing its name at the … Read more

Still not crazy about the Windows 8 Start screen? A new app helps you avoid it entirely by taking you directly to the desktop.

Sold by a company named Thinix, RetroUI breezes right past the Windows 8 Start screen to deliver you to the desktop. You can still choose to open the Start screen and other Windows 8 UI features, or you can disable them entirely so that the Charms bar, hot corners, and other Win 8 elements are inaccessible.

The software costs $4.95. But you can try before you buy via a 14-day fully functional trial version. And … Read more

The more apps you install in Windows 8, the more crowded and wider the Metro Start screen becomes. But PC users can easily steer across the Start screen using just their trusty mouse and keyboard.

By Mouse:

Move your mouse right and left to move to the right and left edges of the Start screen. Moving your mouse's scroll wheel up and down will also move you left and right on the Start screen.

Laptop users can tap into their trackpad. Swipe your fingers up and down the trackpad to move left and right on the Start screen. And … Read more

One of the benefits of the Metro Start screen are live tiles, which can display the latest info from your e-mail, calendar, contacts, and other apps. How do you enable that feature?

You first need to open and potentially set up the app for which you want to see a live tile. Among the apps in the new Windows 8 Release Preview that can tap into this feature are Mail, People, Calendar, Photos, Weather, News, and Sports.

Just opening certain apps will turn on the live tile feature. For example, open the News and Weather apps and then return to … Read more