If you’ve been reading the reviews of Windows 8 on sites like the Verge, Engadget and Gizmodo, you know that there are some dramatic changes compared to Windows 7, or other OSes you may have used. However, taking a little bit of time to understand the Windows 8 start screen will definitely help you to access information that you care about easier than ever before. That’s why all of our new Windows 8 systems include a series of simple video tutorials to help you with Windows 8 basics.
We’re shipping the tutorials on all new Windows 8 systems except Alienware machines. When you boot your new system, you will be taken to the Windows 8 Start screen. One of the Live Tiles you will see is Getting Started with Windows 8. click on the image below to see a larger version).
If you purchase a touch-enabled system like the XPS 12 convertible Ultrabook or the XPS 10 tablet, you will see two sets of videos when you click on the Getting Started with Windows 8 tile: one that covers the basics with touch and another set that explains using the keyboard and mouse. If you purchase a system without touch support, the Getting Started tile will only include the keyboard and mouse specific videos. You can watch all of the videos by clicking through to the Windows 8 Tutorials YouTube playlist.
Here’s the Windows 8 Start screen – Touch overview:
While Windows 8 was built from the ground up to support a touch interface for tablets and PCs, the operating system also works well with a keyboard and mouse. Microsoft supports all kinds of keyboard shortcuts in their new OS. Click on the link to download the Windows 8 keyboard shortcut PDF.
Beyond resources we’re providing on new machines like the Windows 8 Support page of support.dell.com, our social media outreach team has created all kinds of video content to help you get familiar with Windows 8 and how to get more done with it. Here’s Travis’ Windows 8 – Working with the new Start screen video as an example:
Like I mentioned in my Windows 8 launch post, you can expect a lots of related posts across a variety of Dell sites. Many of those posts will be focused on teaching you how to get things done in Windows 8. You can always see the latest Windows 8-related blog posts across all Dell blogs by clicking on the previous link. Here are other places you can find Windows 8-related information:
- All Windows 8 blog content from the Direct2Dell blog
- All Windows 8 blog content from across all Dell blogs
- Windows 8 thread on the Dell Community Forum
- Dell Windows 8 FAQ on the Dell Community Forum
- The US-specific version of the Windows 8 Support page on support.dell.com
- The global version of the Windows 8 Support page: Click on your country, then choose your segment. This will get you to the Windows 8 support page specific to your country.
- The Windows 8 page on Dell.com