Читать книгу Windows 10 Bible - Shapiro Jeffrey R. - Страница 5

Windows 8 represented a fairly significant departure from the traditional Windows interface found in previous versions, in large part to support a new genre of touch-enabled devices. Windows 10 maintains much of the user interface found in Windows 8.x, reintroduces some familiar legacy experiences, and introduces some new features. This section covers the most significant changes in the Windows 10 interface.

The Start menu

One of the main complaints from users about Windows 8, after they got past the Start screen, was the removal of the Start menu. Many users were accustomed to getting to their programs and settings through the Start menu. As Figure 1.4 shows, Windows 10 brings back the Start menu, although it is in a somewhat modified form that marries the Start menu with the Start screen.

Figure 1.4 The Start menu is back in Windows 10.

Clicking the Windows icon in the lower left corner of the display opens the Start menu. On the left side of the menu are icons for your most used apps, links to commonly-used resources such as File Explorer and Documents, and at the bottom, a link that, when clicked, shows your apps in alphabetical order (Figure 1.5).

Figure 1.5 Click or tap All Apps to show a list of all apps on the device.

The right side of the Start menu should be fairly familiar to Windows 8.x users because it is similar in concept to the Start screen in Windows 8.x. Tiles on the Start screen give you access to apps, and, as on the Start screen, can display dynamic data within the tile (known as live tiles).

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The Weather and News app tiles are good examples of tiles that support live data.

Items in the lower-left part of the Start menu provide quick access to File Explorer, Power options (such as Sleep, Shutdown, and Restart), Settings, and a list of all apps installed on the device. You can resize the Start menu like other windows, simply by dragging the edge of the Start menu to make it larger or smaller. Figure 1.6 shows the Start menu resized to a much larger size.

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Just as you can with the Windows 8.x Start screen, you can modify the Start menu to add or remove tiles and group apps as you see fit.

Figure 1.6 You can expand the Start menu to fill the display.

The Windows 10 Start screen and the methods you can use to modify it are covered in other chapters.

Tablet Mode (aka Continuum)

Windows 10 Tablet Mode, formerly code-named Continuum, is intended to optimize the user's touch experience on tablet devices. Essentially, Tablet Mode switches the device to a full-screen Start menu and causes apps to open in full-screen mode. Apps that are already running in a window automatically switch to full-screen mode. Clicking the Restore button in Tablet Mode has no effect because no “windowed” app experience exists. However, you can drag apps to dock them, as shown in Figure 1.7.

Figure 1.7 You can dock apps on the display.

You can turn Tablet Mode on or off through the Settings app. In addition, when you switch the device from a traditional desktop configuration to a tablet configuration, Windows 10 detects the change and asks if you want to enable Tablet Mode. For example, if you disconnect the keyboard from a Surface running Windows 10 or fold the keyboard to the back of the device to use it as a tablet, Windows 10 prompts to ask if you want to switch to Tablet Mode.

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You can configure Tablet Mode behavior in the Settings app, configuring Windows 10 to always stay in the current mode without prompting you, prompt you to confirm a switch, or automatically switch modes without prompting.

The Taskbar

The familiar Taskbar is still a component of the Windows 10 interface; it behaves in much the same way as in previous versions of Windows. For example, if the Taskbar is unlocked, you can position it at any of the four edges of the display. Figure 1.8 shows the Taskbar docked at the left edge of the display.

Figure 1.8 The Taskbar is docked at the left edge of the display.

You can pin apps to the Taskbar as you can in previous versions of Windows, including both modern apps and legacy desktop apps. The Taskbar retains the notification area, which shows icons and messages for running apps and services, with the date and time at the far right corner (when the Taskbar is docked at the bottom of the display). The Taskbar by default shows the Search box at the left next to the Start button. The Taskbar includes an icon for Task View, which is described in the following section.

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The Taskbar remains when you switch to Tablet Mode, but changes slightly. For example, the Search box changes to a Search button and shortcut icons on the taskbar are hidden.

Task View

Experienced Windows users are familiar with the Alt+Tab feature in Windows, which enables you to switch between running applications. The Task View is a similar feature that is available from the Taskbar, both in desktop mode and Tablet Mode. Clicking or tapping the Task View icon in the Taskbar displays a filmstrip of the running apps (Figure 1.9). You can then click or tap an app to make it active and bring it to the foreground. You can also close apps from the Task View by first highlighting an app and then clicking or tapping the close button in the upper right of the app's tile.

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Task View lets you switch between multiple virtual desktops, which are described in the following section.

Figure 1.9 Use the Task View to switch between running apps.

Multiple desktops

In Windows, the term multiple desktops refers to the capability to create more than one virtual desktop, each with one or more apps running on that virtual desktop, and switch between desktops. Windows has supported multiple virtual desktops for several years in multiple versions, although not as a mainstream feature. Windows 10 is the first version to offer multiple displays as a prominent feature of the interface.

If your device has multiple displays, you may be wondering why you would want to create multiple desktops; after all, you can simply move apps from one display to another and group them as needed. Multiple desktops let you group together apps onto a virtual desktop. Although they are most useful on single-display devices, multiple desktops can also be useful on multi-display devices.

For example, you may be multitasking between work and personal activities. In this scenario, you can create a desktop for your work apps and another for your personal apps and switch between the two desktops as needed. Even on a multi-display device, you may find multiple desktops useful for helping you group specific apps together so you can focus on them as a set.

Creating a virtual desktop is easy. Just open the Task View from the Taskbar and click or tap New Desktop. Then open the apps that you want to use on that desktop. When you need to switch between desktops, either use the Task View or press Windows Key+Ctrl+Left Arrow or Windows Key+Ctrl+Right Arrow.

Action Center replaces Charms bar

One of the Windows 8.x interface elements that is gone from Windows 10 is the Charms bar. In Windows 8.x, the Charms bar expands out from the right side of the display to give you access to settings, device functions, search, and other features. Many of these items have been moved into other parts of the Windows 10 interface. For example, Search has been integrated into the Taskbar.

Even though the Charms bar is gone, something similar to it remains in Windows 10. In the Taskbar, next to the date and time, is a Notifications button that, when clicked or tapped, displays the fly-out interface element called the Action Center, shown in Figure 1.10.

Figure 1.10 The Action Center replaces some of the functions in the Charms bar.

The Action Center shows notifications, and through a selection of tiles at the bottom, gives you quick access to the Settings app, tablet mode, airplane mode, and other settings and features. When you need to change display brightness, for example, open the Action Center, tap the Display tile, and then use the brightness slider in the Settings app that subsequently opens.