Prepare your Windows 8 for daily use

The kings have been especially kind to you and your brand new device with a virgin Windows 8 has arrived and ready to be installed and configured for the first time. In this little guide I'm going to go through the steps I've been doing since that distant September 2011 where I installed my first Windows 8 Developer Preview on a real machine.

This way you can put your Windows 8 to work for daily use in a simple, safe way and anticipating possible problems that could appear, and that really are very rare and easy to solve.

Essentials for everything to work

The driver support of Windows 8 is far superior to that of Windows 7, since it adds to all those of the previous operating system, a new set of drivers that augment and update the set of devices it recognizes. It is also true that the industry adheres much more to minimum standards that make life easier for manufacturers to assemble the hardware, and for the OS to make them work correctly.

However, if you are one of those who do not fully trust, or have gone through these steps multiple times, you will know that the hare can always jump and that you can find non-functional hardware in the most inopportune moment.

Certainly this, with Windows 8, you will find it in very rare cases, and therefore the only essential thing that should work for you (besides that it boots the system without blue screens or hangs) is a network connection.Either the Ethernet port or the Wifi communication device.

This is so because 99% of the things I refer to in this guide are going to be downloaded from the internet, and for this reason, if you have doubts that the detection of the communications hardware could fail, put a generic driver from the manufacturer itself on a USB memory or on a CD, which works in Windows 7 at least.

Once this has been taken into account, in the vast majority of cases this precaution is not necessary, we are ready to install our Windows 8 in our gift of kings.

The first performances in the System

When you are finishing installing your new Windows8, the Wizard will ask you for a computer name and user name, as well as a password. It's best to think about it in advance, because cannot be changed later without inconvenience and loss of application settings.

My recommendation is that you use your Microsoft Account details, as this will automatically configure a lot of things for you, including the cover image, ModernUI wallpaper, Skydrive account , Live mail, etc.

Also, if you have several computers in your house, you should have a local network set up around a workgroup. By default, leave the one indicated by the installation wizard itself, unless you are an advanced user and have configured your own workgroup .

Another thing you have to have on hand is the name of your Wi-Fi network and the password (if you have one) to be able to connect to it, and through, to the internet.

By the end of all this, you should have the Windows 8 Welcome screen and be ready for the next step, which is much more boring but necessary.

Updating system and drivers

We must start from the premise that you have an Internet connection which, as I told you before, is essential in these times.

So the first thing you should do is access Windows Update and set the system to search for any updates. You will see that there are a few and you will also have to restart several times and search again until you leave Windows 8 fully updated.

And the antivirus? Don't worry about Antivirus and AntiMalware with Windows 8, it comes integrated into the system itself and is kept up-to-date with Windows Update. And what's more, it's one of the best free antiviruses on the market today. More control over what happens in the guts of the operating system, no other antivirus has it.

If your computer is Windows 7 and you are updating it to Windows 8, it may be that some device has a small problem recognizing its drivers (it is very rare, but it can happen), but in In most cases, successive updates will gradually eliminate these problems.

Closing this chapter, it is important on Windows 8 devices with keyboard and mouse, to take a look at the article on the most useful key combinations and learn at least the transition from the desktop to ModernUI and vice versa with the Windows key and Windows + D .

Required and Recommended Software

The first choice of software that you are going to install on your Windows 8 device is mandatory due to the absurd application of the antitrust laws of the European Union, the same one that prevents you from installing Windows Media Center on EU computers: the default browser you want to use.

Although there is plenty to choose from, I would recommend at least two essentials. Internet Explorer 10 and Google Chrome. And if you want something different, try Maxthon or Opera; but taking into account that they are much more minority.

"

If you have or have had another Windows 8, or Windows Phone 8 or a hotmail account, you are in luck.The Microsoft Account is a powerful identifier for your account and all software associated with it. So I can go to the Store, get the right-click context menu, and tell it I want to see Your Apps. With one click I imported all apps (including paid ones) to my new Windows 8 device… Awesome."

This last one has freed me from downloading and installing the dozens of applications that I had on the small machine that has been replaced by my gift from the kings that I have been very good this year. The drawback is that it works for Modern UI applications.

Modern UI Applications, via Market

Now let's divide the software into two families: ModernUI and Desktop This is so, because Windows 8 RT does not run Desktop applications, which Windows8 PRO yes. So I'll first point out the ones common to both worlds, and then I'll specify the desktop apps.

Undoubtedly Skydrive turns your touch device into a system in the Cloud, so I recommend that it be the first to be downloaded, or something similar like DropBox. I have chosen the Microsoft cloud platform for several reasons: with the latest version of the client it is already a cloud repository as powerful as any other of the competition, but with the addition of having a Word, an Excel and a PowerPoint , accessible from any browser, in its Office Web Apps.

This brings me to the second option, which comes from the factory in most RT machines: install Office 2013, or similar. Office applications are the core of use by users around the world, and the undisputed king in the last two decades has been the combination of Word and Excel; which also work the same on a tablet as on a laptop desktop.

The following applications are related to Web 2.0 and communications. Skype, being acquired by Microsoft, is an essential part of our communications platform. For Twitter, we can make do with the Contacts application that Windows 8 includes and that combines Facebook, Linkedin or Twitter communications in a single place, or we can install the client that we like best - in my case I've chosen MetroTwit.

Another application that I find very useful on my Window8 is Amazon's Kindle, so I can read my books on my device, as well as on my Kindle ebook or on my Windows Phone.

About games things become endless. The number of entertainment applications does not stop growing, both paid and free, as is the case in all mobile device Markets. In my case I only want to recommend three: Pinball FX, Mahjong Deluxe + and Sollitarie Collection, all from Xbox Microsoft Games. All free and of an enormous quality.

Desktop Applications

The desktop continues to have the same importance as in Windows 7 and therefore you should also have a minimum of essential applications.

The Live Essentials set includes a set of software for our daily use such as the Skydrive client, Windows Write – a word processor a little below Office –, the photo gallery and the editor of moviemaker videos. And for communications, Microsoft Mail and Messenger - for those who still use it, although it has already been replaced by Skype. Also all the clients that I have mentioned for Modern UI, in its desktop version. Such as Skype, metroTwit, etc.

Finally, remember that Windows 8 implements DirectX 11, so almost all games that ran on Windows 7 work even better on the new operating system, while maintaining compatibility with the vast library of existing entertainment software.

And with this short list you should be able to start using your new Windows 8 device without any major gaps. Of course, do not forget to read XatakaWindows where we keep you up to date on everything related to Microsoft.

In XatakaWindows | The revolution of Windows 8 cloud users, The most useful keyboard shortcuts in Windows 8, Installing Media Center on a Windows 8, Office Web Apps, the SkyDrive Suite: editing with Word