How to Utilize the Windows 8 Start Menu screen to its Fullest Potential

In the comment section of the Ars Technica article I referenced yesterday and elsewhere on the internet, I notice a lot of complaining about Microsoft's decision to get rid of the start menu button and to turn it into the Start Menu screen found in Windows 8. However, through my using of Windows 8, I've found that the new Start Menu screen is, indeed, an improvement over the traditional start menu found in Windows 7 (and older), even for traditional laptops and desktops. For those of you mourning the start menu button's death, you can simply go back to the Start Menu by pressing the Win key, or by pressing the Start Menu button on the charms bar (brought up by either moving the mouse to either the bottom-right or top-right corner or by swiping from the right if you have a touchscreen).

The first item is the usage of live tiles. Under Windows 7, you could pin programs you use the most to the start menu, but it was limited by the size of the start menu "frame". In Windows 8, you have the whole screen to work with. The idea here is that you can pin the tiles of the programs you use most often to the start menu, and it's the first thing you see when the start menu is opened. Believe it or not, you can remove a pinned live tile from the start menu, but still have the program installed. If you unpin a tile, you can still find an entry for that program in the list of All Programs (found on the bottom of the screen by either right-clicking on the start menu somewhere, but not on a tile, or swiping up from the bottom of the screen, if you have a touchscreen). This way, you can keep your start menu clear of tiles of programs you don't use often, which can create clutter. You can also move the order of tiles around and group tiles however you like. Have the tiles for your most important programs on the left of the screen and going right in order of diminishing importance. Every program that is installed pins a live tile to the Start Menu screen by default, so you can always change the tile's position or remove the tile from the Start Menu screen.

Some people say they just (in Windows 7) open the start menu and type the first few letters of the program they want to open in the search textbox and results appear. Well, this is also possible with Windows 8. All you have to do is be on the start screen, and just start typing. The results of the search will pop up just as they did under Windows 7. Granted, on a tablet, you can't just start typing unless you have a hardware keyboard (if you don't have one, just open up the Charms bar and choose "Find"), but it's still possible. This is also where the grouped live tiles can help. If you know you have a program in a certain group and know where that group is on the Start Menu screen, it's faster than trying to find it via search.

Contrary to popular myth, Win32 programs, as well as Metro-UI programs, can be pinned to the Start Menu screen. The only difference is that the tiles for Win32 programs aren't exactly "live". The new start menu also lets you uninstall programs faster than on Windows 7. In Windows 7, you had to go into the Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel, choose your program, and uninstall it. This is still possible in Windows 8 (for Win32 programs), but there is a faster way. If you bring up the right-click menu for a tile on the start menu (or if you don't have a pinned tile for the given program, the right-click menu for its entry in the All Programs list), there is an option to uninstall it right then and there.

Since the Start Menu is fullscreen, this means that Microsoft had to move the taskbar (it's to the right side of the screen). While this move is debatable, this means that you have more room for (live) tiles.

I hope that, along with my article on keyboard shortcuts in Windows 8, this helps you to be more productive with the latest version of Windows, Windows 8.  If you have any thoughts on the new Start Menu or anything else in Windows 8, please share them in the comment box below.

While you're learning about how to best use the new start menu in Windows 8, why not drink some delicious Mystic Monk Coffee? Mystic Monk Coffee (use this link or click on the picture below to access the store and purchase) is what you really need when it comes to coffee. Trust me, it's good coffee (in most instances, much better than Starbucks coffee) and you won't regret buying some (just keep it away from your computer keyboard or laptop/tablet). If you like tea more than coffee, they also offer tea. Using the link (or picture below) to buy the coffee (or tea) helps the monks out and helps me with college expenses as well. The coffee (or tea) also makes for great gifts for friends and family as well.

For my existing Windows Phone apps, the update for the free version of Mobile Media Manger is out. However, I found an embarrassing bug in that update (the button to move items up in the playlist manager is not working, but the one to move items down in the playlist manager is working and everything else works). I will be submitting a fix for this in the next day or two, along with an update for the paid version of Mobile Media Manger. The update for BSA Eagle Tracker will soon follow. If you want to get my apps now while waiting for the update, use the following links:

BSA Eagle Tracker download: http://bit.ly/Mm1Upo
Mobile Media Manager (paid version) download: http://bit.ly/y3rf6V
Mobile Media Manager (free version) download: http://bit.ly/xGCsWE

Handy-Dandy Keyboard Shortcuts in Windows 8

Last night, I found a post on Ars Technica about start menu replacements in Windows 8. After reading many of the comments there, I realized that some of the problems people are complaining about are easily solved with keyboard shortcuts available in Windows 8.

With this in mind, here are some keyboard shortcuts for Windows 8 that you should memorize (shortcuts newly available in Windows 8 will have "New" after them) with some explanations about what they do:

• Win : This one is the most obvious. Pressing the Windows (logo) key on the keyboard will take you back to the Start Menu screen.
• Ctrl + Alt + Delete : This one has been around since the early days of Windows and is still available for your use in Windows 8. If you don't already know what this keyboard shortcut does, it brings up a little menu which allows you to lock your session, switch the current user, logout, or open the Task Manager.
• Alt + Tab : This allows you to cycle through the list of all open programs (both Metro-UI programs and Win32 programs). Furthermore, after pressing Alt + Tab, you can also use the mouse to click on the (open) program you want to switch to.
• Ctrl + X : Cut (or Move, if dealing with files)
• Ctrl + C : Copy
• Ctrl + V : Paste
• Win + Tab (New) : This allows you to cycle through the list of all Metro-UI programs. Please note that all Win32 programs fall under one big program here, "Desktop". Like Alt + Tab, , after pressing Alt + Tab, you can also use the mouse to click on the (open) program you want to switch to.
• Win + C (New) (Important) : This keyboard shortcut is very important. It opens up the "taskbar" on the right side of the screen. This keyboard shortcuts saves you the effort of moving the mouse to the bottom-right corner of the screen to make it show up.
• Win + E : opens up a new file explorer window
• Win + X (New) : This keyboard shortcut is a system administrator's best friend. Pressing it will bring up a little menu where the start menu button used to be. This menu contains links to all essential administrative parts of Windows.
• Win + F (New) : This keyboard shortcut brings up the search menu, where you can search for items in all available categories.

This is just a short list of (essential) keyboard shortcuts. For a fuller list, please see Microsoft's list of keyboard shortcuts in Windows 8. In my next post, I will share my thoughts on how to fully utilize the potential of Microsoft's new Start Screen in Windows 8.

So, hopefully, this helps you to be more productive with the latest version of Windows, Windows 8. Is there a keyboard shortcut I should add this list that isn't there already? If there is, or if you have any other thoughts about this in Windows 8, please share them in the comment box below.

While you're learning about these new shortcuts in Windows 8, why not drink some delicious Mystic Monk Coffee? Mystic Monk Coffee (use this link or click on the picture below to access the store and purchase) is what you really need when it comes to coffee. Trust me, it's good coffee (in most instances, much better than Starbucks coffee) and you won't regret buying some (just keep it away from your computer keyboard or laptop/tablet). If you like tea more than coffee, they also offer tea. Using the link (or picture below) to buy the coffee (or tea) helps the monks out and helps me with college expenses as well. The coffee (or tea) also makes for great gifts for friends and family as well.

For my existing Windows Phone apps, the update for the free version of Mobile Media Manger is out. However, I found an embarrassing bug in that update (the button to move items up in the playlist manager is not working, but the one to move items down in the playlist manager is working and everything else works). I will be submitting a fix for this in the next day or two, along with an update for the paid version of Mobile Media Manger. The update for BSA Eagle Tracker will soon follow. If you want to get my apps now while waiting for the update, use the following links:

BSA Eagle Tracker download: http://bit.ly/Mm1Upo
Mobile Media Manager (paid version) download: http://bit.ly/y3rf6V
Mobile Media Manager (free version) download: http://bit.ly/xGCsWE

Some Short News for Computer Science Students and Teachers in Fall 2012

It's that time of year again where everyone starts to realize that summer break is almost over and it is time to head back to school. With this, I have a few announcements for those being educated in Computer Science.

What better way is there to start the preparation for the school year off than by installing Windows 8 on your computer? Tomorrow, Windows 8 will make its way on MSDN. I am sure, by default, this will also apply for MSDNAA as well, which has now been integrated into Dreamspark. If it doesn't exactly show up tomorrow, check back in a day or two. You might be better off doing that anyway, as I am sure there will be much traffic on MSDN trying to download the RTM version of Windows 8.

Speaking of Dreamspark, students (especially freshmen) should know that Microsoft is generous to students, so generous that you have access to a good bit of software for free which, otherwise (if you weren't a student), would cost you some major $$$. This software includes products like Windows (so, for example, if you got the Home Premium flavor of Windows 7 installed on your computer, you can upgrade it to the Pro flavor of Windows 7. For development purposes, you also get access to Visual Studio for free. These are just some examples, but you get the idea.

As I mentioned before, start thinking ideas for your school's Imagine Cup team. If your school doesn't have a team, you can always start one. The Imagine Cup is open to both high school and college students, but be warned that winning will not be easy. Still, do not let the fact that winning is hard get in the way of you or your team.

With Windows 8 comes WinRT, a whole new set of APIs for Windows. Windows 8 programs can be written in javascript, c#, or c++. Feel free to combine languages if you like, but be warned there are constraints when working in more than 1 language on the same project.

Well, this all for now in this new briefing, but I hope that you can do something with this information. For students, all you really have to pay for when getting a new computer is the hardware. As an additional request, I know there are those of us who really like a company's software and exhibit fanboy-like behavior and there are those of us who don't care and just "use what works". If you are going to have debates between software and/or hardware products this year (like Windows 8 vs Mac OS X Mountain Lion), please do so with charity and don't reduce things to ad hominem attacks. If it comes down to using ad hominem attacks, you've basically lost the debate (automatically).

As a college student myself, I know what a drag it can be in the morning if I don't have my coffee to get me started. If you are going to drink coffee, why not drink it like a mystic monk. Some tasty Mystic Monk Coffee (use this link or click on the picture below to access the store and purchase) is what you really need when it comes to coffee. Trust me, it's good coffee (in most instances, much better than Starbucks coffee) and you won't regret buying some (just keep it away from your computer keyboard or laptop/tablet). For the summer (or what's left of it), they are also offering Iced Coffee as well. If you like tea more than coffee, they also offer tea. Using the link (or picture below) to buy the coffee (or tea) helps the monks out and helps me with college expenses as well.

Feel free to try out my apps for Windows Phone: Mobile Media Manager, a media player app I made which has some features which (I feel) are missing from the system Zune player, and BSA Eagle Tracker, an app that boy scouts can use to track their progress to Eagle Scout (when the scout handbook isn't always handy). The update for the paid version of Mobile Media Manager is out, but my last submission update for the free version in Microsoft Apphub certification failed, so release of the update to the free version will be a few days (< 7). BSA Eagle Tracker is also getting a bug fix for an obscure bug I noticed recently.

BSA Eagle Tracker download: http://bit.ly/Mm1Upo
Mobile Media Manager (paid version) download: http://bit.ly/y3rf6V
Mobile Media Manager (free version) download: http://bit.ly/xGCsWE

Some Things You Need to Watch Out For in WinRT

We all know that Windows 8 is coming out in October. We also know that developers are hard at work trying to ready their apps for Windows 8 when it is finally released. However, if you're new to WinRT or have a big amount of experience coding using C++ or one of the .Net languages like C#, there are some things you have to watch out for.

For your primitive data types, WinRT supports 99.9% of the primitive types supported in the .Net Framework languages. The only ones it doesn't support are 8-bit signed integers. I will also add that Javascript limits a Number to only 53 bits, so be careful when dealing with large numbers.

Compared to C++ which allows mutable strings, the .Net languages consider strings to be immutable. WinRT has taken the route of strings being immutable (even in C++), and the use of NULL or (nullptr) with strings is now frowned upon. Any string which is set to NULL is treated as an empty string (with 0 characters).

In the fight between pass by reference and pass by value, WinRT only passes interfaces as references. All other types are passed by value. This means that you should be careful when passing objects. Structs are allowed, but structs can only hold information of semantic value (such as strings, numbers, and other structs). Pointers inside a struct are not supported. If you are programming using Javascript, please note that Structs are not directly supported. In this case, if you want a struct in javascript, you will have to create a Class which just holds values, mimicking the functionality of a struct.

In Data Structures, we have a big change. Arrays normally are reference types, pointing to a "group" of same-type values (or objects) as part of one big memory chunk. In WinRT, arrays are now value types. I am not sure how the memory management actually works yet (whether it's still one big chunk for the group or not).

For events, you handle them the same way that you normally do in your language of choice (for example, in C#, you add event listeners using += and remove event listeners using -=, so you still continue this practice when developing WinRT programs).

For method overloading, WinRT changes how this works. Normally in method overloading, you can either use a different number of parameters for each declaration of a function, different types of parameters for each declaration of a function (for example, the function displayMessageOnScreen(string message) and displayMessageOnScreen(char[] message)), or a combination of the two approaches. In WinRT, method overloading is determined by the number of parameters, so something like the example I gave above would throw an error in WinRT.

As far as Collections go, many of the collection types found in .Net have a couterpart in WinRT. As far as specific changes go, the WinRT Vector type resembles arrays and the array syntax is used to consume them and the WinRT Map type is a key/value pair collection, and is projected as Dictionary in .NET languages.

Regarding asynchronous functions, all functions taking more than 50 milliseconds to complete is deemed an "async method.

For information, please see http://channel9.msdn.com/events/BUILD/BUILD2011/PLAT-876T. I hope this is helpful to you in some way, shape, or form when developing WinRT programs.

If you have any thoughts or comments of your own about this, feel free to share them via the comment box below or e-mail me at catholictechgeek@gmail.com.You can also find me on twitter (twitter username is @rctechgeek). Feel free to subscribe to my rss feed too. I am now on Tumblr now as well (link to Tumblr is http://www.tumblr.com/blog/catholictechgeek), so please follow me on Tumblr too.

If you're feeling thirsty while using the computer or can't quite stay awake while using one, drink  (or give someone you care about) some tasty Mystic Monk Coffee (use this link or click on the picture below to access the store and purchase). Trust me, it's good coffee (in most instances, much better than Starbucks coffee) and you won't regret buying some (just keep it away from your computer keyboard or laptop/tablet). For the summer, they are also offering Iced Coffee as well. If you like tea more than coffee, they also offer tea. Using the link (or picture below) to buy the coffee (or tea) helps the monks out and helps me with college expenses as well.

Feel free to try out my apps for Windows Phone: Mobile Media Manager, a media player app I made which has some features which (I feel) are missing from the system Zune player, and BSA Eagle Tracker, an app that boy scouts can use to track their progress to Eagle Scout (when the scout handbook isn't always handy). The update for the paid version of Mobile Media Manager is out, but my last submission update for the free version in Microsoft Apphub certification failed, so release of the update to the free version will be a few days (< 7). BSA Eagle Tracker is also getting a bug fix for an obscure bug I noticed recently.

BSA Eagle Tracker download: http://bit.ly/Mm1Upo
Mobile Media Manager (paid version) download: http://bit.ly/y3rf6V
Mobile Media Manager (free version) download: http://bit.ly/xGCsWE

Imagine Cup 2013: Start Thinking Now

Well, it is still summer, but we are now in August, which is when students and teachers start thinking about heading back to school. While we are on the subject of school, if you are looking for something to do with your computer science class this year, look no further than the Imagine Cup.

The Imagine Cup is a software competition for students that Microsoft holds every year. Each year has a theme based on the UN Millennium goals. Depending on the sector of the competition you are a part of, you have to design a piece of software that reflects the theme.

There are a few sections of the Imagine Cup, but the most popular are Software Design and Game Design. In Software Design, students have to come up with a solution to a problem (based on the UN Millennium Goals) using hardware and Microsoft software. The team who comes up with the best solution to the team's problem wins. In game design, students design a game (based on the UN Millennium Goals) for either Windows Phone or Xbox which reflects the year's theme.

Participation in the competition can be done by both high school students and college students.

The competition (at least, for the competitions mentioned above) consists of 4 rounds. In round 1, the team submits a plan, which includes a storyboard and a description. A team can also submit an alpha or beta build, but it is optional for this round. All entries which survive round 1 move on to round 2. In round 2, teams need to submit a working prototype, an updated project plan, and a video describing the whole thing. If you survive round 2, things get better.

Round 3 is the US finals (or if you don't live in the United States, your country's finals). Here, you and your team get flown out to Redmond for a visit to Microsoft's headquarters where, incidentally, the US Finals are held. As a bonus, anyone who makes it this far in the competition gets a free opportunity to interview for a Microsoft internship or, if you are a senior in college, a full-time job at Microsoft. This also the round when your project gets voted on by millions of people on Facebook to determine the People's Choice. The first place winners of the Software Design competition move on to round 4, the last round of the competition. The first place winners of the Game Design competition are recognized, but do not get to move on to round 4 because every country participating in the Imagine Cup has a Software Design competition, but not every country has a Game Design competition.

Round 4 is the World Finals. Here, the winners of the Software Design competitions from all over gather to see which one is the best in the world. Word has it that the world finals are going to be held in Russia in 2013.

So, I hope I've gotten your interest. While the theme for the 2013 competition has not been revealed yet, you can preregister. For more information on the Imagine Cup competion, please see http://bit.ly/fcPDqa. For everything you need for the competition, students can get any software you need via Dreamspark.

If you have any thoughts or comments of your own about the Imagine Cup or if you are thinking of entering the 2013 competion, feel free to share your thoughts and comments via the comment box below or e-mail me at catholictechgeek@gmail.com.You can also find me on twitter (twitter username is @rctechgeek). Feel free to subscribe to my rss feed too. I am now on Tumblr now as well (link to Tumblr is http://www.tumblr.com/blog/catholictechgeek), so please follow me on Tumblr too.

If you're feeling thirsty while using the computer or can't quite stay awake while using one, drink  (or give someone you care about) some tasty Mystic Monk Coffee (use this link or click on the picture below to access the store and purchase). Trust me, it's good coffee (in most instances, much better than Starbucks coffee) and you won't regret buying some (just keep it away from your computer keyboard or laptop/tablet). For the summer, they are also offering Iced Coffee as well. If you like tea more than coffee, they also offer tea. Using the link (or picture below) to buy the coffee (or tea) helps the monks out and helps me with college expenses as well.

Feel free to try out my apps for Windows Phone: Mobile Media Manager, a media player app I made which has some features which (I feel) are missing from the system Zune player, and BSA Eagle Tracker, an app that boy scouts can use to track their progress to Eagle Scout (when the scout handbook isn't always handy). The update for the paid version of Mobile Media Manager is out, but my last submission update for the free version in Microsoft Apphub certification failed, so release of the update to the free version will be a few days (< 7). BSA Eagle Tracker is also getting a bug fix for an obscure bug I noticed recently.

BSA Eagle Tracker download: http://bit.ly/Mm1Upo
Mobile Media Manager (paid version) download: http://bit.ly/y3rf6V
Mobile Media Manager (free version) download: http://bit.ly/xGCsWE
CodeProject

Does Windows 8 and WinRT mean Death to the Command Line in Windows?

First, if you didn't get the news, Windows 8 has been released to computer manufacturers (OEMS) so they can start on developing device drivers and other components for Windows 8. If you have a MSDN subscription, you can grab the RTM version on August 15.

With Windows 8 comes a big emphasis on (graphical) user interface in programming. A big part of this is developing with touch in mind and what you can do with touch. However, I am concerned that the graphical user interface is being somewhat overemphasized and the usefulness of the command line is in danger of being neglected.

For those of you who haven't done work in Linux or are too young to remember MSDOS, a command line (on Windows, I believe it is called "Command Prompt") is a tool you use to type in and execute a program and any (special?) parameters for it. Up until Windows 95, you needed to have MSDOS installed to run windows. Windows 95 was the first release of windows to be independent of the command line. This trend that Windows 95 started has continued through further release versions of Windows even through today. Even though Windows 95 and any future releases of Windows can run independent of the command line, Microsoft still includes a console program to access the command line in Windows.

I will admit that a graphical user interface makes computer use much easier, especially for those who are "computer-challenged" or don't know a lot about computers. However, the command line offers much more power than any graphical user interface. You can specify exactly the program and any parameters you want the program to run with. If you launch a program from a graphical user interface, it either launch with the "default" options and no special parameters or, if using a shortcut, whatever parameters are configured for the given program in that shortcut. It is possible for programs which have a graphical user interface (gui) to also have parameters which can be used on the command line. Most of the time, these parameters for programs with a gui are either hidden away somewhere (such as the README) or not disclosed.

In Windows 8, Microsoft DID include the command line. I know this is certainly true for the 32-bit and 64-bit X86 builds of Windows 8 (partially, I think, because of desktop mode). However, there is still no word yet on whether Microsoft will include the command line for the ARM build of Windows 8. This is further complicated by the fact that the LaunchFileAsync() function found in the Launcher class in WinRT will not launch files which contain executable code. With this function, the file chosen will be launched by the default program associated with the file's extension or you can use an "Open File With" dialog box to choose which program will open that file type. For more details on the Launcher class, please see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/br241801.aspx.

The fact that you cannot use a program to launch another program (command line excepted) is not a problem for most developers in most situations. However, if there does come an instance where you need to launch an external program in a WinRT program, you will be out of luck. This is particularly true for those of you who use rom kitchens to build custom roms for your smartphone or pocket pc. As to not derail the purpose of this article, I will touch on rom kitchens in Windows 8 in a future article.

Touch does pose a problem in implementing a command line. The command line, at its conception, never envisioned that people would use touch (or a stylus) with it. The command line was designed for use with a hardware keyboard. To get around this, you can use a "soft" keyboard (or handwriting recognition software when using a stylus, but this is not foolproof) to type in the command line on a computer which lacks a hardware keyboard. This is the approach used in Windows XP Tablet, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and any handheld varieties of Linux. In a touch world, the command line will have to "evolve" so that there is an onscreen keyboard which is movable on the screen to wherever the user wants it AND be able to view what you are typing using the onscreen keyboard. One approach to this could be having the onscreen keyboard at the bottom of the screen and any console output above the keyboard without the console output and the onscreen keyboard overlapping.

As always, a good graphical user interface will always make your users happy, since most of the users are not heavy power users which need a command line. The big thing is to have the great emphasis on an excellent graphical user interface, but not to leave the big power users which need a command line out in the cold in the process.

So what do you think this situation? If you have any thoughts or comments of your own about this, feel free to share them via the comment box below or e-mail me at catholictechgeek@gmail.com.You can also find me on twitter (twitter username is @rctechgeek). Feel free to subscribe to my rss feed too. I am now on Tumblr now as well (link to Tumblr is http://www.tumblr.com/blog/catholictechgeek), so please follow me on Tumblr too.

If you're feeling thirsty while using the computer or can't quite stay awake while using one, drink  (or give someone you care about) some tasty Mystic Monk Coffee (use this link or click on the picture below to access the store and purchase). Trust me, it's good coffee (in most instances, much better than Starbucks coffee) and you won't regret buying some (just keep it away from your computer keyboard or laptop/tablet). For the summer, they are also offering Iced Coffee as well. If you like tea more than coffee, they also offer tea. Using the link (or picture below) to buy the coffee (or tea) helps the monks out and helps me with college expenses as well.

Feel free to try out my apps for Windows Phone: Mobile Media Manager, a media player app I made which has some features which (I feel) are missing from the system Zune player, and BSA Eagle Tracker, an app that boy scouts can use to track their progress to Eagle Scout (when the scout handbook isn't always handy). The update for the paid version of Mobile Media Manager is out, but my last submission update for the free version in Microsoft Apphub certification failed, so release of the update to the free version will be a few days (< 7). BSA Eagle Tracker is also getting a bug fix for an obscure bug I noticed recently.

BSA Eagle Tracker download: http://bit.ly/Mm1Upo
Mobile Media Manager (paid version) download: http://bit.ly/y3rf6V
Mobile Media Manager (free version) download: http://bit.ly/xGCsWE
CodeProject