About views in Windows (Start screen/menu, Control Panel)

On this page:

• Windows 8
  • Power User menu
  • Configuring the Start screen
  • Viewing and closing apps
  • Accessing the Desktop
  • Accessing the Control Panel
  • Initiating a search
  • Charms bar
• Windows 7
• Vista and XP

Windows 8

Microsoft made a major change to the Windows 8 interface, with a "Start screen" replacing the Start menu. The intent is to provide a seamless experience on desktops, laptops, tablets, and phone devices. Windows 8 is intended to be "touch first", working well for devices enabled for touch screens; however, you can still use a mouse and keyboard on devices without touch capability.

Power User menu

To open a menu (called the "Power User" menu) listing some of the features available from the previous Start menu, do one of the following:

• Press Win-x .
• Move your cursor to the bottom left corner of the screen and right-click.

Configuring the Start screen

The Start screen has a default application display you can customize:

1. Right-click any app (called "tiles" in Windows 8) and the Application bar will appear at the bottom, with options for the application you have selected.
   
   
2. To add an app to the Start screen, click Pin to Start.

   The Application Bar will reflect options relevant to the application you have selected. If an application is already on the Start Screen, Pin to Start will instead be Unpin from Start.

Viewing and closing apps

Note: Some applications and features in Windows 8 (e.g., Control Panel, Internet Explorer) have both a Windows 8 version and a pre-Windows 8 version. Windows 8 applications (formerly called "metro" style applications) have neither close nor minimize buttons; they are designed to run as full-screen applications and cannot be resized.

• Press Win-q to view all apps (similar to viewing all programs in previous versions of Windows).

  Alternatively, you can right-click an open area of the Start Screen, and the Application bar will open at the bottom. Click All apps on the lower right, and a list of all available apps will appear.

• To close Windows 8 applications, go to the top of the screen (your cursor will become a hand) and drag down to the bottom of the screen.

Accessing the Desktop

Options for accessing the Desktop:

• Press Win-d .
• Hover your mouse pointer at the very top or bottom of the left edge of the screen, and click the desktop picture that appears.
• By default, the Start screen contains a Desktop tile you can click.

Accessing the Control Panel

• Press Win-i . On the panel that appears on the right, click Change PC Settings. The Windows 8 version of the Control Panel will appear.
• To display the pre-Windows 8 Control Panel, do one of the following:
  
  
  • Press Win-q  and choose Control Panel.
  • From the Start screen, type control panel, and click the resulting Control Panel.

Initiating a search

Typing while in the Start screen initiates a search. Simply type your search term(s) and choose the appropriate result.

Charms bar

The Charms bar appears as a panel on the right with five options:

• Search
• Share
• Start
• Devices
• Settings

To access the Charms bar, either press Win-x  or move your cursor to the lower right corner.

Windows 7

Windows 7 does not offer a complete Classic View or Classic Start menu. To use a Classic theme, right-click anywhere on the desktop, and then choose Personalize. Under "Basic and High Contrast Themes", select Windows Classic.

In Windows 7, there is no Classic View in the Control Panel. Instead, you can switch between Category, Large icons, and Small icons.

To customize your Windows 7 Start menu and Taskbar, right-click the Start button and click Properties.

Windows Vista and XP

In Windows Vista and XP, you can choose whether to use the default views for some items (e.g., Start menu, Control Panel) or switch to Classic View. The option to switch is usually visible in the left frame, or by right-clicking and selecting Properties.