Windows 8’s new interface and
alternative ways of working are not to everyone’s taste. Indeed, reviews have
been mixed and sales are reportedly less than stellar. However, the operating
system still has a lot to offer, with some useful new tools and features. The
good news is, if you’re using Windows 7, you can get a lot of the best
functions without upgrading, simply by installing some free programs.
Get the new interface
Microsoft is fully committed to
the new Windows 8 interface (formerly called Metro, and now called Start), so
much so that it forces you to access it before you can get to the Desktop. This
means we’re all going to have to get used to the interface eventually, as it’s
likely to form a major part of all future versions of Windows.
You can get some practice in now
by installing the Windows 8 UX Pack (www.windowsxlive.net).
This will give you the look and features of the new interface,but without the
permanence of an upgrade, because it can be disabled at any
time.
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You can bring Windows 8’s Start screen to Windows 7, if you
want
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Choose the Windows 8 tools you want to use in Windows7 with
the UX Pack
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Add the Charms side bar
Windows 8’s Charms sidebar
provides quick access to useful system tools such as the Device Manager, the
Start screen
and the PC’s settings. It remains
hidden until you move your mouse to the top- or bottom-right corners. To get
something similar in Windows 7, install Charms
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Charms for Windows 7 works just like the Windows 8 Charms bar
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You make
it appear in the same way
as in Windows 8, and it offers the same features. The program
also displays a bar showing the
time and date.
Get Internet Explorer 10
The Windows 8 version of IE 10 is available
as both an app and a Desktop program. It offers an improved engine and various
security and privacy enhancements. Microsoft is bringing it to Windows 7 (but
not to older versions of Windows), and you can try it out now by installing the
Internet Explorer 10 Release Preview (bit.ly/ie10-309). There are 32- and
64-bit versions available, and you’ll need to have Windows Service Pack 1 (SP1)
installed.
Once you've upgraded to the preview version,
reboot your computer and wait for it to update various core Windows files.
lE10 looks much the same as lE9,
but includes new features such as Do Not Track protection and Enhanced
Protected Mode, which isolates the browser to prevent malware gaining access to
your PC. The biggest difference you’ll notice is the speed. IE10’s new
JavaScript engine and other tweaks have made it considerably faster.
Get the ribbon interface in
Windows Explorer
Microsoft has been steadily adding
its ribbon interface to more applications. Windows Explorer is the latest to
get the makeover, and it works very well. The best way to add it to Windows 7 is
to install Better Explorer (better-explorer.com). It looks similar to the
Windows 8 version, and offers both the ribbon interface and support for tabs,
so you can have multiple folders open simultaneously. It also offers enhanced
search, folder-size charts (so you can see where your drive space has vanished
to), a simple image editor and zip-file support.
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Better Explorer brings the ribbon Interface to file management
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The program runs alongside Windows
Explorer, rather than replacing it.
Control a multi-monitor set-up
If you
have two monitors connected to a single PC, Windows 8 displays the new tiled interface on one and the Desktop on the other, and lets you choose which
screen to have your taskbar
appear on. In Windows 7, you’re stuck with all the connected screens
showing the Desktop, and the taskbar only appears on the primary monitor. You can get greater control over a multi-monitor set-up using DisplayFusion (www.displayfusion.com). It lets you configure each monitor separately, manage Windows wallpaper and choose which screens to show taskbars on.
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Choose which, monitor displays your taskbar
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Add SkyDrive cloud storage
SkyDrive, Microsoft’s cloud-based
storage service, is fully integrated into Windows 8. To add it to Windows 7,
install the official app (bit.ly/skydrive309). The latest version gives you 7GB
of space (down from 25GB) and can handle files up to 2GB in size. The Fetch
feature lets you access your PC remotely and grab files you've forgotten to add
to the cloud.
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Use SkyDrive’s Fetch tool to retrieve files from your PC
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