1. Hello, Windows 10!

If you’ve been one of those Windows 7 hold-outs (and you’re not alone!), waiting to try the latest version of Microsoft’s Windows operating system until it seemed to stabilize and the bugs appeared to be worked out, now’s your chance. Windows 10 is all that the developers of Windows 8 were hoping for when they first told us about all the great flexibility, the features that enable us to focus on what we love best, and the time-saving and click-reducing procedures that we could accomplish with a flick of the finger.

Windows 10 Creators Update, the latest version of Microsoft’s innovative approach to the popular Windows operating system, offers new features designed to help you be more creative, stay safer (with new privacy tools and enhanced security features), and have more fun—with better browsing, expanded game support, 3D design tools, enhanced music and media tools, and more.

This chapter introduces you to Windows 10 and spotlights some of the new features you’ll work with as you use apps, save files, share data, and enjoy media and games. This chapter also shows you how to get help when you need it, put your computer to sleep (no singing required), and power down the system completely, when you’re ready to do that.

The Windows Update utility restarts your computer after installation is complete. When your computer restarts, Windows 10 quickly appears on your screen, and it might walk you through a series of Express Setup questions (which help the operating system get you connected to the Internet, set your sharing preferences, and set up some surfing security features in Microsoft Edge). One of those questions asks you how you want to use your OneDrive account, which is the app that stores your files in the cloud. You can follow along with the onscreen prompts to set things up to your liking. After you finish answering all the necessary questions, Windows 10 lets you know that you are ready to begin, and the Windows 10 Lock screen appears.

1. Press the Power button on your PC or device. After the system boots, your Windows 10 Lock screen appears, showing a beautiful landscape.

2. Click the screen (or swipe up if you have a touch-capable computer) or press any key to display the login page.

   

3. Enter your password and either press Enter or click the Submit arrow (not shown). Windows 10 logs you in.

The Start button displays the Start menu, which gives you access to all the apps on your computer or device (complete with live tiles). Just to the right of the Start button, you see a search box that reads Type Here to Search. This is also where you’ll find Cortana lurking, waiting to act on your voice commands. You learn about the Start menu and discover how to set up Cortana in Chapter 3, “Accomplishing Windows 10 Essential Tasks.”

In the middle of the taskbar, you see a few tools “pinned,” which means they always stay visible as icons on the taskbar so you can find and use them easily. On the far right of the taskbar, you see the new My People hub icon, a set of icons giving you the status of various settings on your computer. (For example, the icons shown here represent network settings, volume, OneDrive, and Windows Ink Workspace.) To the right of the date and time, you see the Notifications tool, which lets you know when there are actions you need to take for Windows 10 or various apps on your system and shows you the number of notifications that have arrived since you last checked.

• Use the Windows 10 Start menu—The Start menu serves as a central point, giving you lots of information about friends, colleagues, weather, email, and more. You can see at a glance the number of email messages you have, what your day’s appointments look like, and what the news headlines are. You can also start your favorite apps, play media, change system settings, and even customize the look of Windows, all from this one screen. You find out how to tweak the look of the Start menu in Chapter 5, “Personalizing Windows 10.”

• Launch and work with apps—The colorful tiles on the Windows 10 Start menu represent apps, or programs, you can launch with a simple click or tap. Some apps display “live” information and update on the Start menu, and others don’t. You learn how to work with, organize, and get new apps in Chapter 7, “Discovering, Using, and Sharing Favorite Apps.”

• Browse the Web with Microsoft Edge—Microsoft Edge is Microsoft’s web browser, which replaced Internet Explorer 11. (You can still download and install IE if you want.) Edge integrates easily with the Cortana digital assistant and is able to display personalized search information, as well as support handwritten notes on web pages. Edge also includes a reading mode that suppresses the display of formatting and advertisements to make reading web content easier. You find out more about using Microsoft Edge in Chapter 9, “Streamlined Surfing with Microsoft Edge.”

• Stay in contact with friends and family—The new My People hub can pull together your closest contacts so they are available throughout the day for quick communication.

  

• Find new favorites in the Microsoft Store—The Microsoft Store is greatly improved in Windows 10, including thousands of new apps and even more ebooks, ready for downloading. In the Microsoft Store, you can find apps of all kinds, free and otherwise. You find out more about browsing and shopping in the Microsoft Store in Chapter 7.

• Listen to your favorite music or watch a show—The improved Groove Music app, and the Groove Music Service, make it easy for you to play your favorite songs in any combination you like. You can create your own radio stations, playlists, and more. And the Movies & TV app gives you a way to watch your favorite movies and shows—binge-watching at its best.

• Go for a little gaming—More and more, in our hectic and stressful world, a game gives us a way to quiet our minds and have some fun. Windows 10 has a slate of games and new gaming features that make gameplay easier and more seamless than ever. You can play solo or broadcast your game and play along with friends.

  

• Use Windows 10 your way—In Windows 10, you can see all the apps you have installed by scrolling through them in the Start menu. This is similar to the All Programs functionality in the Windows 7 Start menu. All the apps are all organized in alphabetical order. You can scroll through the list by dragging the scrollbar and then clicking the app you want to open.

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  Move to an App Quickly

  If you’re scrolling through the apps list and want to move quickly to another part of the alphabet, click or tap one of the alphabetical letters to display a grid of letters, and then choose the beginning letter of the apps you want to see. This action takes you directly to that letter in the list—no scrolling required.

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In Windows 10, you use the mouse for all the common tasks: starting apps, finding and opening files, choosing program settings, working with media, playing games, and so on. Here are some of the common techniques you might already be using:

1. Click the Start button to display the Start menu.

2. Use the vertical scrollbar to scroll through available apps.

3. Right-click the app tile in the Start menu to display a context menu for that app. From there, you can click the option you want to use.

4. Click an app name or an app tile to launch the app.

   

If you want to select multiple items that aren’t next to each other, click the first item and then press and hold the Ctrl key; then click all the other items you want to include.

Mouse Shortcuts for Navigating Windows 10

The list of features includes many of those you might have seen in the Windows Control Panel previously: Apps and Features, Mobility Center, Power Options, Device Manager, Run, and more. Click the feature you want to use, or, to hide the feature list, tap or click anywhere outside the list.

In addition to using touch and the mouse, you can use your keyboard for navigating in Windows 10. When you use your keyboard to navigate the Start menu, move among apps, and manage windows, you use special keys, shortcut key combinations, and function keys.

• The Windows key, commonly located on the lowest row of your keyboard on the left side between the Ctrl and Alt keys, takes you back to the Start menu no matter where you are in Windows 10.

• You can use the Page Up and Page Down keys as well as the arrow keys to move among apps if you’re on the Windows 10 Start screen.

• You can use the Tab key to move from option to option.

• You can press key combinations (such as Ctrl and the letter assigned to a specific menu option) to perform operations.

Keyboard Shortcuts for Navigating Windows 10

Begin by launching an app that requires you to type something on your tablet. For example, you might open the Mail app and start a new message. Then follow these steps to display and work with the Windows 10 touch keyboard:

1. Tap in the To area. The full keyboard appears along the bottom half of your screen.

2. Type the email address of the person to whom you want to send the message.

3. Tap in the subject line and use the keyboard to enter the topic of the message.

   

4. Press and hold a key to display child keys for some keys—for example, vowels that can have different accents, such as the vowels a, e, i, o, and u, and punctuation characters such as the period (.), apostrophe (’), and question mark (?).

   

1. If you want to change the type of keyboard displayed, tap the keyboard button in the upper-left corner of the keyboard.

2. A set of four choices appears. You can choose from the onscreen touch keyboard, a thumbs keyboard, a drawing tablet, or the standard keyboard. Tap the keyboard you want to use.

3. You can also change your keyboard settings by tapping Language Preferences, Typing Settings, or Keyboard Tips.

   

1. With the touch keyboard displayed, tap the Microphone icon. A red Listening indicator appears.

2. Speak the text you want to add. It appears at the cursor position.

   

3. When you’re finished entering text, say “Stop dictating,” and the red indicator disappears.

1. Choose the writing pad in the keyboard options. The writing pad appears in place of the traditional keyboard.

2. Use your pen to write the content you want to add. Windows 10 converts your handwriting to typed text.

3. When you’re finished, tap the check mark.

   

1. On the touch keyboard, tap the smiley face button. The emoji keyboard appears.

   

2. Click the category of emoji you want to see.

3. Choose the emoji you want to insert into your app.

   

If you have a smartphone, you already know about touch. You tap the surface of your phone to dial a friend’s number, you swipe through photos, you pinch a web page to make the print larger (so you can read it on that small screen). Windows even includes a “hands-free mode” for apps that support it.

If you use Windows 10 on a tablet or touch-enabled screen, you’ll notice you can interact with Windows much the way you use your smartphone. However, for good measure (and for those readers who don’t go for the smartphones), this section introduces the gestures you’re likely to use most often in Windows 10 and takes a look at the new gestures added into this release.

1. Launch Windows 10 on your tablet, and the Start screen appears.

2. Tap once quickly in the center of the tile or icon. If you tapped an application on the Start screen, the program opens; if you tapped a setting or an option, the item is selected or displays additional choices, if applicable.

   

1. Tap and hold an app tile. Two circles appear in the upper- and lower-right corners of the tile.

2. Tap the lower circle displaying the three dots. This displays the context menu. Tap the option you want to apply.

   

1. Display the Windows 10 Start screen on your tablet.

2. Touch a point toward the left side of the Start screen and drag to the right. Your open apps appear as thumbnails in the center of the display.

   

1. Display the Windows Start screen on your tablet.

2. Touch the screen close to the right edge and drag in to the left. The Notifications panel scrolls in from the right.

   

1. To swipe up on the screen, press and hold and drag the display upward.

2. To swipe down, touch the screen and swipe down toward the bottom of the screen.

   

1. Display the app you want to use.

2. Reduce the size of the content displayed by placing your thumb and forefinger on the screen and “pinching” the area together.

   

3. Enlarge an area of the screen by placing your thumb and forefinger together on the screen and expanding the distance between them (not shown).

1. Display the Start screen by clicking or tapping the Windows button.

2. Enter a word or phrase that represents what you need help with.

3. Click or tap a right arrow to display help options for the topic you choose.

4. Click a category to determine what kind of answer you’d like.

5. Choose to see a larger list of search results.

   

1. Click or tap the Windows button to display the Start menu.

2. Scroll to the apps beginning with the letter T.

3. Click or tap Tips.

   

4. Click the type of tips you’d like to see.

5. Click or tap a tile to find out more about the topic.

   

1. Click or tap the Start button to display the Start menu.

2. Click or tap the Power tool toward the bottom of the menu. A list of options appears: Sleep, Shut Down, Restart.

3. Click or tap Sleep.

   

1. On the Start menu, click or tap Power.

2. Click or tap Shut Down. If you have any open, unsaved files, Windows 10 prompts you to save them before shutting down.