Customize Windows 8 Windows Appearance
Most Windows users are probably familiar with the fact that windows in Windows can appear to float onscreen, be maximized to occupy the entire desktop, and be minimized so that they are hidden in a taskbar button. Windows in Windows 8 work pretty much like they always have.There are a few differences, however, and some cool capabilities you might not be aware of.
First, if you’re running the Windows Aero user experience, you will notice that the window Minimize, Restore/Maximize, and Close buttons take on a pleasant glowing effect when you mouse over them, as they did in Windows Vista. The Minimize and Restore/Maximize buttons glow blue, indicating that clicking these buttons is a non-destructive act. The Close button glows a red color. The intent is to click with caution.
New Windows 8 Desktop Aero Features
While the Windows 8 desktop may resemble that of previous Windows versions, Microsoft has actually filled it with a number of unique desktop effects, sometimes called Aero desktop enhancements. These effects make Windows 8 easier to use, are visually stimulating, and provide some important productivity advances.
Aero Snaps
Aero Snaps expands on previously available window management functionality in Windows and makes it easier to do so without the use of standard window controls, which are getting smaller and harder to use as we move to extremely high resolution displays. Aero Snaps provide a way to maximize, minimize, and stack windows side-by-side. And it works using natural and easy-to-remember mouse movements that don’t require precise mouse clicks.
Also available are simple keyboard shortcuts for each Aero Snaps effect. Aero Snaps provides a number of new ways to position and resize windows. None of them require new onscreen controls, so they work fine with both the mouse and with Windows 8’s new touch controls. These methods include the following:
Maximize:
To maximize the currently focused and floating window, click and
hold the title bar area and drag the window up toward the top of the screen.
Maximize vertically:
If you just want the current window to maximize vertically, both up and down (but not horizontally, or left and right), you can grab the top or bottom edge of the currently focused and floating window and drag it toward the closest (top or bottom) edge of the screen. When the cursor hits the edge of the screen, the window will maximize vertically.
Snap left:
To snap the currently focused and floating window to the left side of the screen, drag it to the left. When the cursor hits the left side of the screen, the window will snap to that edge and occupy the leftmost 50 percent of the screen.
Snap right:
To snap the currently focused and floating window to the right side of the screen, drag it to the right. When the cursor hits the right side of the screen, the window will snap to that edge and occupy the rightmost 50 percent of the screen.The Aero Snaps right keyboard shortcut is WinKey+Right Arrow. As with Snap left, Snap right works uniquely on multiple monitors too: as you repeatedly tap the keyboard shortcut, the window moves right across the displays, snapping to various screen edges as it goes. Again, it will eventually make a complete round-trip between the various displays.
Aero Snap left and Aero Snap right are often used together. So you may snap one window to the left side of the screen, one to the right, and then drag and drop files between them or perform other similar tasks. In previous windows, you could achieve a similar effect, but it was far more complicated and less obvious.Restore:
To restore a maximized or snapped window, drag it down from the top or other edge of the screen by clicking and holding in the title bar area. If you maximized or snapped the window using Aero Snaps, it will return to its previous size and position.
Aero Peek
Aero Peek is one of many technologies that Microsoft has implemented over the years
to combat the problems caused by excessive multitasking: if a user opens too many win-
dows on the desktop, it’s easy to lose track of those windows and the desktop.
Aero Peek is used to literally “peek” behind all of the open windows on your system so you
can get a look at the desktop. Previous to Windows 8, various Windows versions (includ-
ing XP and Vista) included a feature called Show Desktop that was typically exposed
by an icon in the Quick Launch toolbar in the taskbar. This Show Desktop functionality
worked like a toggle: if you clicked it once, all of the open windows on your system would
be minimized and you could access the desktop. Click it again, and all of the windows
that were previously open would be returned to that state.
In Windows 8, Show Desktop has been effectively replaced by Peek at Desktop, though there is an option to make this feature work you like the old Show Desktop if you choose to.
Instead of a taskbar icon, Peek at Desktop is enabled by mousing over a new glass rectangular area found in the lower rightmost corner of the screen; it’s to the right of the system clock in the taskbar. When you do mouse over this little panel, all of the open windows are hidden and replaced by window outlines.
Aero Shake
Aero Shake can be accessed by clicking and holding on the grabbable area of any floating (nonmaximized) window and vigorously shake the mouse left and right. Using an external mouse works much better than it does with a trackpad or other pointing device.
When you do so the first time, all other open windows are minimized. Repeat the action,
and those minimized windows will be restored to their prior state. Aero Shake is designed as an add-on to Aero Peek, though it works a bit differently. The focus is on the selected window. And other windows are truly minimized: that is, they disappear from the screen entirely and you don’t see a ghost window outline as you do with Aero Peek.