About two weeks ago, in my second article in this series (you can read it at http://dva.delphianva.com/2012/04/windows-8-cantos-ii.html if you're interested), I told you about my day-to-day use of Windows 8 Consumer Preview. I mentioned things like Start, which is no longer a button, but rather a screen, and I talked about how tablet-friendly this upcoming version of Windows would be. This time around, as promised, I want to speak a bit about what I've done to customize my Windows 8 experience.
On initial configuration, I didn't really understand that there were two ways in which to log-in. One way is 'local', in that you don't sign into any account (e-mail or otherwise). The other is that you can sign in with your Windows Live ID. I tried it, using my Hotmail/Live account, but have reverted to a local sign-in for now. For those of you interested in it, there are two important, useful reasons why you might want to go the route of signing-in:
- You can synchronize all of your files using SkyDrive. So Apple users have iCloud (non-Apple users too, to an extent), and PC users have SkyDrive (or Google if you wish).
- You can synchronize your personalized settings. This means if you log-into another computer running Windows 8, your settings will transparently be available.
My main area of focus or concern so far has been my Start page. The Start page has icons for Windows 8 apps at first, but you can of course add your own programs (and icons). To investigate a little, you should head over to the Windows Store (shown here), and that has tons of apps you can try, use for free, or buy. Now here's a special note about apps: the native applications used in Windows 8 are "Metro" style (full screen, among other things), but in terms of what programs you can/can't use in Windows 8, almost anything you used in either Windows Vista, or Windows 7 should still work. The app for the App Store is simply called Store in Windows 8. It's actually pretty cool. It's one of the first places I visited once I had taken care of installing, re-installing, or updating the non-Metro apps I normally use (things like Microsoft Office 2010, Firefox, Chrome, and so forth).
Adding an application in Windows 8 is done just like in Vista or Windows 7: pop in the CD. Normally, Windows 8 will add the icon to a blank area on (the) Start (page). To change the order of icons, grab one with your mouse (or finger if you're using a tablet) and move it. Now, a whole new world opens up when you right-click an application's icon on Windows 8 Start: a panel opens at the bottom of the Start page, offering you choices of things you can do with that icon, or with the item (for instance, a program) itself. A picture best describes this, so see below what happened when I right-clicked the icon for the Firefox program.
What you see above is way cool, as I now have the option of simply removing the icon from Start, or from the Taskbar, or actually uninstalling the program if I want.
In my next post on Windows 8, I'll take about some shortcuts I've discovered, as well as let you in on a few Windows 8 'secrets' and tips.

