I personally think IE 10 Metro is a pain in the ass, but have found this to work like a charm.
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For those of you who love Internet Explorer and prefer it as your default browser, I have a great news for you guys. Windows 8 will be shipping with not just one but two versions of Internet Explorer 10.
One of the versions will be the default desktop version we have been working on for ages on previous versions of Windows. The second version of the Internet Explorer in Windows 8 is the Metro UI version and we all will be seeing it for the first time.
If you use your Start Screen (Start Menu) to launch the Internet Explorer, Windows will open the Metro UI IE for you, and if you start the Internet Explorer using your desktop, it will open the good ol’ desktop version. Now the thing is, by default IE is set to choose the version it would launch for the links on its own and most of the time it’s the metro application that is being launched. Though the Metro version of IE is very sleek with a lot of eye candy, its difficult to work on it.
Furthermore, most of the plugins don’t work with the Metro version and sometimes Flash and Java fails too. In such a case, if you want to use IE, I recommend you make the desktop version as the default one for the time being until Microsoft comes out with a solid solution for their Metro version.
You can always click on the Settings button in the Metro version and click on the option view on the Desktop, but to make the changes permanent follow these steps to change the default settings.
Step 1: Launch the start screen and search for internet options. Click on the icon Internet Options under Settings section to launch Internet Explorer properties windows.
Step 2: In the properties window navigate to the Programs tab and select Always in Internet Explorer on the Desktop from the dropdown menu under the Opening Internet Explorer section and save the settings.
From this day forward, all your links will open in the desktop version of Internet Explorer provided you are not already working on the Metro Version.
It’s not a hard and fast rule that you have to select the desktop version. Everyone of us has a different taste, and if you think that the Metro UI interface suits you better you may continue with it as the default version of Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 8.
