Windows 8 is a hybrid system, made from a traditional desktop with Explorer and programs and from a start menu of native applications. Although for some the experience may not have been positive due to the more radical change than previous versions, Windows 8 generally works well and is faster than Windows 7.
Even Windows 8 can be customized in a decisive way, both by changing the internal options of the system, and by using external programs that can make its global use easier
Basics of Windows 8
To learn how to customize Windows 8 you need to know its main features.
The biggest news is evident from the beginning and is that horizontal scrolling home screen made up of large interactive buttons which are called Tiles (in Italian tiles) and form the Windows 8 Start menu
You can view the home screen at any time by pressing the Windows key on the keyboard.
Other ways of accessing the applications is by moving the mouse to the bottom left or to the top left where a sidebar appears with the applications open and where, at the bottom, the tile of the initial screen appears.
You can also move the mouse to the right and press on the middle button of the bar.
Tiles are always links to applications and can also be interactive by showing information in real time.
You can certainly add tiles to access particular files or to open programs, but to do this, you need external software (see point 2).
Right clicking on a tile opens a menu of options to remove it, fix it, resize it.
By playing with the Start menu tiles, you can customize the home screen by choosing your favorite applications, moving them, grouping them and removing the least used ones.
To customize Windows 8, you can start from:
1) The control panel
On Windows 8 there is a traditional Control Panel for the desktop and a menu of options called PC Settings which can be accessed from the home screen of applications.
PC settings can be accessed by clicking on your name at the top right or from the sidebar that appears by moving the mouse to the right.
In the PC settings, you can, among other things, change the color of the app tiles.
2) Open traditional programs from the Start screen
Even if there are applications, you can install normal programs that also work in Windows 7.
Programs can be started from the desktop shortcut or added to the home screen .
To do this, just select them in the general list of Apps (visible by pressing the Windows + Z keys).
3) Install applications from the Windows Store
The applications are different from the programs because they use the Metro interface of the system and have, more or less, all the same graphic style and the same types of menus.
Windows 8 apps are many and can be browsed, tested, installed and purchased if paid as explained in the guide to the Windows 8 App store.
Another article explained how Windows 8 applications quit and end.
4) Personalize the desktop
The Windows 8 desktop is the same as the Windows 7 or XP desktop except for one thing, the Start menu is missing.
This can cause trauma for those accustomed to starting programs in the traditional way.
To overcome this lack, you can start Windows 8 with desktop and Classic Start menu with Classic Shell, a small program that allows you to customize the desktop to make it more similar to previous Windows.
On the Windows 8 desktop, you can create shortcuts for the home screen applications to launch them as normal programs, in the traditional way.
If you start the Windows Store apps from the desktop you just need to create a new shortcut giving it as destination:
% windir% \ explorer.exe shell ::: {4234d49b-0245-4df3-b780-3893943456e1}
This link refers to the folder that contains all the apps that can then be brought to the desktop by creating a link for each of them.
5) Uninstalling applications and programs is not necessary
To uninstall applications from WIndows 8, just right-click on them and remove them from the options menu.
To remove Windows 8 programs, on the other hand, you can use the traditional control panel program management tool or use software uninstallers.
6) Turn off Windows 8 animations
In the guide on how to optimize Windows 8 it is explained that if the computer was not too powerful it is better to disable the visual effects to speed up the system.
You can also disable the animations of the Live Tiles or interactive tiles that show dynamic information (right click on them).
7) Check the performance of Windows 8 and perform maintenance activities
Also in the post on how to optimize Windows 8 (see previous point) it is explained that the classic computer maintenance operations must still be performed, especially that of cleaning out obsolete files.
In addition, we must point out what, for now, is the best program to start the various maintenance tools: EnhanceMy8, a complete set of tools to view the internal information of the computer, make tweak adjustments and start maintenance tools.
8) Turn off your computer with Windows 8
In Windows 8, the shutdown button on the computer is somewhat hidden.
It is however possible to add buttons to turn off the PC or exit Windows 8 on the home screen.
Keep in mind that with Windows 8 the computer rather than shutting down proceeds to hibernate the system to favor a quick restart.
It is very important therefore to have a look at the guide on the fast start of Windows 8 and the problems of restarting and stopping the pc
In another article you can read how to customize the appearance and change the Windows 8 Start screen
