Microsoft Windows 8

The Windows 8 default lock screen, featuring Seattle landmarks. The lock screen can show updated info like weather, awaiting emails, and more.

"Tattoos" let you customize your Windows 8 Start screen with artistic backgrounds.

At first run of Wndows 8, users will see these helpful tips on basic use of the OS. Another one tells mouse users to move the pointer to the screen corners to access OS functions.

The Windows Store now features apps for purchase, with prices ranging from $1.49 to $999. Like the Mac App Store, it lets you reinstall apps you've bought on any of your PCs and oversees app updating.

SkyDrive is your Windows cloud storage. Apps can be programmed to access the online storage with your permission.

New support for multiple monitors lets you span a background image across screens (more appropriate for similar-size monitors), and you can invoke the charm icons on each screen, with a forgiving target areas in the upper-right corner of each. Here we see a 46-inch Samsung UN46ES8000F as the secondary monitor.

When you swipe in from the right or move the mouse cursor to the top right corner of the screen, you'll see the "Charms" or menu icons on the right for Search, Share, Start, Devices, and Settings. You'll also see the time, date, battery status, and Wi-Fi status on the left.

The Sports app's menu is invoked with a right mouse click or a swipe down. You can pin your favorite leagues and teams.

In Windows 8 Metro, you can not only pin apps to the start page, but subsections of apps. Here, in the Sports app, I'm pinning the Mets section. You can also pin a specific stock symbol or email inbox.

Windows 8 is a selection of background 25 colors. The new Windows logo changes color to match your selection.

The next step before you start using your new Windows 8 tablet is to sign into a Wi-FI access point.

The Settings part of setup is more complex, but it will make sense for most people to simply choose Express settings, which turns on security and auto updates.

Before you can fully use Windows 8, just as with any smart mobile device, you need to sign into an online account. This enables the app store, syncing, and online cloud storage using SkyDrive.

After the simple setup, you'll see this tile-based Metro UI Start screen.

To make it easier to log in to a touch tablet, you can set up a Picture Password. This lets you log it with a set sequence of taps, line, and circles on an image of your choice.

You just need three gestures, which you repeat and accept when setting up your picture password.

If you pinch the Start screen your tiles will shrink, showing all at once. This makes moving tiles and general navigation easier.

Just start typing from the Start screen, and search results will appear like this. You can filter results by app, settings, or files, and even search within any of the apps listed at lower right.

You can get a partial view of a second app by swiping in and holding from the left.

This shot shows the People app, which lets you hook up your Facebook, Twitter, and other social accounts. It also shows the left panel of other running apps, which you call up by swiping to the left edge and them back in, or, with the mouse, by putting the cursor in the top left corner and then moving down.

The Video app lets you buy and rent from the Xbox Market. This screen also shows how you can get a partial view of a second app, in this case the Pictures app, in a sidebar.

In Settings you can find and connect to wireless devices.

Just as in Windows 7, you can view your Windows 8 on multiple monitors. This setting is available from the Devices charm.

There are actually two views of Internet Explorer, this is the touch-centric Metro view. It's full screen on the Web page, but if you swipe up from the bottom or down from the top, you see the thumbnails at the top and the address bar, pinning, and settings icon at the bottom. The thumbnails show loaded sites, and note that you can "Clean Up" or close all but the current window. The Metro browser now supports some Flash sites, and has a Flip-Ahead feature, taking you to the most likely next page.

This mini view of the Metro start screen appears when you move the mouse to the lower left corner of the screen. Clicking there opens the start screen.

The Windows Explorer now has a ribbon, but now you can hide it with the up arrow at upper right.

File History is a new Windows 8 feature that saves versions of your documents and other items, using an external or network drive.

Task Manager has been redesigned, showing App history and more performance views, and color coding.

Windows 8 supports stylus input, and it did a good job of converting my writing to characters.