◄ part 1 Benefits of a Microsoft accountBeing connected to the Internet and logging in with a Microsoft account gives you several benefits. First, as mentioned earlier, you have access to your SkyDrive cloud storage. If you have other PCs, smartphones, or tablets, you can access SkyDrive from any of your Internet-connected devices. This feature saved my bacon during the course of my work at PCWorld, allowing me to send my editor a critical file using SkyDrive on my iPhone.
Every Windows 8 user gets 7GB of free SkyDrive storage. If you exceed that amount, you have to pay an additional, ongoing fee. However, 7GB is fairly substantial, provided you're not storing tons of high-resolution images and video.
You also have what's known as "single sign on." You no longer need to enter your account info when you go to the Microsoft Store, the Music store, or other features. You'll be able to sync your main PC's settings with other Windows 8 PCs you may use, provided you can log in to those PCs with your Microsoft account. So it's easy to keep your Windows 8 laptop and Windows 8 desktop in sync.
Drawbacks of a Microsoft accountAs useful as a Microsoft account can be, there are pitfalls to using one, too. SkyDrive itself has some odd limitations compared with similar services such as Dropbox. SkyDrive imposes a 2GB file size limit, which makes uploading large, high-definition video files problematic. Also, Microsoft has reserved the right to monitor what you upload, and if it thinks what you've uploaded is illegal, you'll find those files deleted. If that Big Brother aspect of SkyDrive troubles you, you may want to consider other services instead.
SkyDrive on the DesktopA Windows 8-style SkyDrive app is included with your Windows 8 installation, but how do you get to your SkyDrive folder from desktop software, like Microsoft Office? If you use the Office 2013 preview, you're asked for your Microsoft login, so you'll automagically have SkyDrive access. But other apps might not be so smart. In addition, you may simply want to copy files between local folders and SkyDrive. While you can do this with a Web browser, that's a cumbersome process at best.
The answer is to download and install the SkyDrive app. The SkyDrive desktop application adds a SkyDrive folder to your system and conveniently adds it to the Favorites list in the Windows file manager.
If you use SkyDrive, you should get the desktop app.Microsoft supplies SkyDrive apps for Windows (Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8—but not Windows XP), Windows Phone, iOS, Android, and MacOS. So if you're using SkyDrive, you'll want to get the necessary apps.
App confusionBefore we look at the preinstalled apps, it's discussing for a moment what an app actually is.
Windows 8 now has the concept of two types of apps. One type is called Windows 8 apps. These are the apps you buy or download for free from the Microsoft Store—and only from the Microsoft Store. Most will have some cross-platform capability, so they'll also be available on Windows Phone 8 and Windows RT, Microsoft's tablet-only OS that runs on ARM processors.
The other type of app is what we normally think of when we think of software running on Windows—what Microsoft calls "desktop apps," though individual Microsoft folk have occasionally slipped up and called them "legacy apps." Desktop apps will be sold and serviced as they always have. You can get to them from the Microsoft Store, but you'll typically be taken to the publisher's website. You can buy them from retail outlets and install them that way. Other ways to buy them include various digital-downloads purveyers—from Amazon.com to Steam to direct from the developer.
So while the new Windows 8-style apps are curated and approved by Microsoft, similar to the way Apple handles iOS apps for the iPad and iPhone, traditional desktop software will still be available the way it has always been, and Microsoft doesn't approve or otherwise edit desktop applications.
Now let's take a quick look at preinstalled Windows 8 apps.
Quick look at preinstalled appsYour Windows 8 desktop PC should be set up and ready to use, if not fully tweaked to your personal preferences yet. Now let's take a quick tour of some of the preinstalled Windows 8 apps. This is not a comprehensive list—just a quick overview of some key apps.
People The People app aggregates contact lists from a number of services into one place. You can also get updates from your Twitter and Facebook feeds. You can respond to individual messages, but you can't post global updates to Facebook or Twitter.
The People app aggregates all your contacts.
You can also see most social media updates from your contacts in the People app.MailMail has improved substantially since the Consumer Preview. Previously, I couldn't connect to my Yahoo mail account, but it now works with Yahoo mail, Gmail, and POP mail services.
Mail is simple, but also straightforward. And it now works much better than in the Consumer Preview.CalendarCalendar is pretty simplistic. You can tie it in with Google and Yahoo calendars, and make edits, but navigation is pretty basic, as are the various views.
The very basic Calendar aggregates your schedule.MessagingThe Messaging app as it stands is extremely limited—you might even say it's broken. You can update your Facebook feed and interact with the three people you know who use Microsoft Messenger. It's a far cry from a universal messaging application, so until Microsoft improves it substantially, it's more a toy than a useful tool.
PhotosThe Photos app is slick, albeit a little shallow. You can access your Facebook, Flickr, and SkyDrive photos, and you can create slideshows. You can't, however, edit photos or even launch a photo-editing application.
Photos shows you your pictures from multiple sources, including other PCs on your network.
Zooming to individual photo sources reveals greater detail.StoreThe Microsoft Store is the location for finding and buying new Windows 8 apps—the ones that you load off the Start screen. You need a Microsoft account to buy apps, or to download the many available free apps. Note that desktop software may also be listed in the store, but clicking on those tiles will just take you to the manufacturer's website. You can't download desktop software from the Windows Store.
The Microsoft Store is approaching 10,000 apps, but it still has a ways to go to catch up with iOS or Android.MusicThe Music app is confusing, partly because it's labeled "Xbox Music" once you click inside, and because it's a location for both purchasing music (as with iTunes or Google Play), as well for listening to free streaming music (as with Spotify or Rdio). You can also play your own music, but the interface for local file playback is obtuse to say the least. Luckily, Windows Media Player is still available on the desktop for when you need a more robust music playback app. If you're an iTunes user, you can just download and install iTunes. iTunes works fine, but it's currently a desktop-only app.
The music app. The video app looks quite similar. Both carry Xbox branding.VideoThe Video app is another Xbox labeled app, and just another storefront for buying video. Windows Media Player can handle video playback, but Microsoft no longer includes an MPEG-2 playback license. For this reason, you'll need to download Windows Media Center ($9.99 if you're a standard Windows 8 user, free for Windows 8 Pro users.)
SkyDriveThe SkyDrive app lets you access your SkyDrive content. It's not nearly as flexible as the SkyDrive desktop application, with its associated folder. But this app is slick looking.
The SkyDrive app is a good companion to the desktop app, but you really will want to get the desktop app.Bottom line By now, you're probably past your first 30 minutes with Windows 8. There's a lot more to learn, but much of what you learned with Windows 7 still applies. Take the desktop, for example. Sure, the classic Start menu is gone, but the Simple Start menu (Windows-X) should ease some of the pain of finding system-level programs.
The taskbar on the desktop works as before, too. You can drop any desktop application (though not Windows 8 apps from the Microsoft Store) onto the taskbar, just as you did in Windows 7. Also, the task manager has been enhanced, and you can now set up your startup items there.
But I digress—those are things to do in your subsequent use of Windows 8. Right now, you've gotten familiar with basic navigation, you've set up networking, and you've created user accounts. There's more to learn, but that alien feeling you first experienced when starting at the active tiles in the Start menu should be fading. It's your PC, so take control.
source:pcworld
