Brian Underdahl - Whats New in Windows 8.1 For Dummies

Whats New in Windows 8.1 For Dummies, Pocket Edition

Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com

Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions .

Trademarks: Wiley, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and may not be used without written permission. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty : The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.

For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002. For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport .

Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com . For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com .

ISBN 978-1-118-83792-4 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-84525-7 (ebk)

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Publishers Acknowledgments

Executive Editor: Steven Hayes

Project Editor: Pat OBrien

Copy Editor: Debbye Butler

Technical Editor: Russ Mullen

Editorial Assistant: Anne Sullivan

Sr. Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case

Project Coordinator: Kristie Rees

Cover Image: iStockphoto.com/Cary Westfall

Introduction

W indows 8.1 is the newest and most advanced version of Windows ever. As youll soon see, Windows 8.1 includes a number of new features that will make your PC both easier and more fun to use.

About This Book

Whats New in Windows 8.1 For Dummies, Pocket Edition, is intended to help you get up to speed with Windows 8.1 as quickly as possible. In this book, you see how Windows 8.1 is changed from Windows 8, and you also discover some cool new tricks you can use to personalize your copy of Windows 8.1.

This book is intended to give you a quick start by focusing on the differences between Windows 8 and Windows 8.1. It isn't intended to be a comprehensive title that digs into the deepest depths of Windows 8.1. If you need a complete guide to using Windows 8.1, I suggest that you visit www.fordummies.com to discover additional resources.

Windows 8.1, like Windows 8 before it, represents a major change in the way you interact with your PC compared to earlier versions of Windows. The most visible change that youll encounter is that a touchscreen interface is now a very important part of the way you use a PC. If your PC has a touchscreen, youll find that touching objects on the screen soon becomes second nature, and, in most cases, far easier than using a mouse. Microsoft hasnt forgotten, however, that most existing PCs dont include a touchscreen. In fact, Windows 8.1 adds a number of features that make it easier for you to use a mouse whether you have a touchscreen or not. In creating this book, I realize that even when it would be easier to simply tap or swipe the screen with a finger, its easier for you to understand what Im trying to show in a screen if I include the mouse pointer so thats what I do whenever possible.

Icons Used in This Book

This book uses the following icons to call your attention to information that you may find helpful in particular ways.

The information in paragraphs marked by the Remember icon is worth, well, remembering. Mostly, you dont need to memorize this book. Just refer to it when you have questions.

The Tip icon indicates extra-helpful information.

This icon marks places where technical matters, such as pixels and whatnot, are discussed. Sorry, it cant be helped, but its intended to be helpful. This information is interesting, but isnt essential.

Paragraphs marked with the Warning icon call attention to common pitfalls that you may encounter. These paragraphs will stop you from going wrong when its hard to fix.

Where to Go from Here

You can, of course, read this book any way youd like. Each chapter is intended to provide complete information on a particular subject. If youre in a hurry, you can simply read what you need for now, and go back later to pick up anything you missed. On the other hand, it really wont take you very long to read the whole book, and Im sure that youll find a lot of useful information by reading it in its entirety.

Occasionally, Wiley's technology books are updated. If this book has technical updates, they'll be posted at www.dummies.com/go/whatsnewinwindows .

Chapter 1

Getting Started with Windows 8.1

In This Chapter