William R. Stanek - Windows 8.1 Administration Pocket Consultant: Essentials & Configuration

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To my readersthank you for being there with me through many books and many years. It has been an honor and a privilege to be your pocket consultant.

To my wifefor many years, through many books, many millions of words, and many thousands of pages shes been there, providing support and encouragement and making every place weve lived a home.

To my kidsfor helping me see the world in new ways, for having exceptional patience and boundless love, and for making every day an adventure.

To Anne, Karen, Martin, Lucinda, Juliana, and many others whove helped out in ways both large and small.

Special thanks to my son Will for not only installing and managing my extensive dev lab for all my books since Windows 8 Pocket Consultant but also for performing check reads of all those books as well.

William R. Stanek

Writing Windows 8.1 Administration Pocket Consultant: Essentials & Configuration was a lot of funand a lot of work. As I set out to write this book, my initial goals were to determine how Windows 8.1 was different from its predecessors and what new features and options were available. As with any new operating system, I had to do a great deal of research and a lot of digging into the internals of the operating system to determine exactly how things work.

Anyone transitioning to Windows 8.1 from Windows 8 might be surprised at just how much has been updated, because changes both subtle and substantial have been made throughout the operating system. For anyone transitioning from Windows 7 or earlier, the extensive UI changes will be among the most substantial revisions to the operating system. Like Windows 8, Windows 8.1 supports a touch-based UI, as well as the traditional mouse and keyboard. When you are working with touch UI-enabled computers, you can manipulate on-screen elements in ways that werent possible previously. You can do any of the following:

You also are able to enter text by using the on-screen keyboard. Although the UI changes are substantial, they arent the most significant changes to the operating system. The most significant changes are below the surface, affecting the underlying architecture and providing many new features. Some of these features are revolutionary in that they forever change the way we use Windows.

Because Pocket Consultants are meant to be portable and readablethe kind of book you use to solve problems and get the job done wherever you might beI had to carefully review my research to make sure that I focused on the core essentials and configuration of Windows 8.1. The result is the book you hold in your hands, which I hope youll agree is one of the best practical, portable guides available.

Because my focus is on giving you maximum value in a pocket-size guide, you dont have to wade through hundreds of pages of extraneous information to find what youre looking for. Instead, youll find exactly what you need to address a specific issue or perform a particular task. In short, the book is designed to be the one resource that you turn to whenever you have questions regarding Windows 8.1 essentials and configuration. It zeroes in on daily procedures, frequently used tasks, documented examples, and options that are representative, although not necessarily inclusive.

One of the goals for this book is to keep its content concise so that it remains compact and easy to navigate, while at the same time packing it with as much information as possible to make it a valuable resource. Instead of a hefty 1,000-page tome or a lightweight, 100-page quick reference, you get a valuable resource guide that can help you quickly and easily perform common tasks, solve problems, and implement everyday solutions.