There seems to be a lot of confusion over the new design of Windows. Next week, Windows 8 will be launched in a worldwide marketing rush, and real customers will be able to get their hands on the new operating system. It’s Microsoft’s most important responsibility to ensure that users learn how to use Windows 8 fairly quickly before they get frustrated. One source of annoyance could be the change to shutting down your computer from previous versions of Windows.
The fact of the matter is that Windows 8 is very easy to use — easier than most negative reviews might have you believe. At the end of the day, anyone who calls himself a power user and doesn’t know that the ALT+F4 shortcut will close any program in Windows, or needs a Start button to be able to use the menu, should reconsider their self-designation as a so-called power user. Even Windows itself can be closed by using ALT+F4 (when you’re on the desktop). In fact, I find that this is the quickest of all methods.
Now, after ranting over so-called power users, less savvy computer users should use the new Windows Charms, which can be accessed by hovering in the upper and lower right corners, or by pressing Windows+C.
Using any third-party programs or creating shortcuts on the desktop are, most of the time, much more complicated than the built-in solutions.
Microsoft needs to spend more money on showing people these Windows tricks, rather than producing flashy television ads. There will be questions, and the answers have to be as concise as possible. Only then will Microsoft successfully make such drastic changes to the mechanics of the well-known Windows system. Coming from Windows XP, the learning curve will be quite steep in the first few days.
If you’re a user who feels less confident about changing system settings, I strongly advise not to try any of the nifty tutorials that can be found on the Internet. It’s already easy enough to turn off Windows 8, and I’m going to show you how simple — right here, and right now.
There are two simple ways to shut down, sleep, or restart a Windows 8 computer:
- ALT+F4 (only when you’re on the desktop, or all windows are minimized)
- Windows+C, then Settings, then Power
I hope this helps you in your Windows 8 journey. Do you have any simple Windows 8 tips that you’d like to share? Please leave a comment below!
shutdown -s? does that work?
Yeap. Easy shortcut to make, then pin to start screen. Change icon to sthng nice
who hit alt f4 and your browser just closed
Yep, in Win 7.
Simply press the switch-off button on your machine!
That doesn’t always work for laptops, depending on the default power settings. These settings can be changed, so that pressing the power button will put your machine to sleep, for instance.
See my previous question. The shutdown command is still there, right? If I couldn’t find the shutdown button that’s what I’d do.
Yes, that also works still obviously. I myself just use ALT+F4 on the desktop.
Gordon Bennett! You have to have a tutorial to show how to shut down a Win8 system correctly? That has to be the most ludicrous set of affairs I’ve heard of in a long time.
Is it beyond the wit of MS to create a tile with “Shut Down” on it?
It beggars belief.
That’s a good tip!
sorry- any time i have to remember keystrokes makes my blood boil- the days of dumb terminals should be long gone- i should not need to show off street cred by the amount of keyboard shortcuts i know- just to be able to turn off the box. and i mean off- not just standby
hold down power button between 5 and 10 seconds nuff said
Dont Tell People About Alt-f4 now we cant troll in irc anymore because noone will fall for it :/
any way you can also shut down a computer from the command prompt to
windows+r than type shutdown -s -t 0
note -t can be any number and this will add a delay in seconds before the system shuts down