Microsoft is trying to help new Windows 8 users by sending them e-mails that explain the new environment.

Users who set up a new Windows 8 PC or tablet and associate it with a Microsoft account will receive two separate e-mails.

The first e-mail, dubbed "Getting Started with Windows," sheds some light on the Start screen with a brief description of Live Tiles. Another section displays and explains the different charms in the Charms bar. And two other sections clue you in on how to switch between or view multiple Windows 8 apps.

Each section offers a "… Read more

Among the top free apps listed in Microsoft's new Windows Store right now are IHeartRadio, Newegg, Kindle, and... Remote Desktop.

Remote Desktop may not be sexy, but it does allow Windows 8 and Windows RT users to connect to a remote Windows PC and access resources from it. And on the Windows RT front, given its restrictions on use of almost any existing Win32 applications (other than Office 2013 Home & Student, Internet Explorer 10, and some other Microsoft-developed utilities), Remote Desktop sounds -- at least in theory -- like a great way for users to continue to use … Read more

The Microsoft Surface is more computer than tablet. If you favor keyboards, that's a good thing. But the Surface has a lot to offer touch screen fans as well.

Like a tablet, you tap and slide your fingers on the Surface touch screen to open apps and access settings. Like a PC, you can enter keystroke shortcuts on the Surface Touch Cover and Type Cover keyboards to reach those same programs and system options.

Get the best of both the tablet and computer worlds by using these handy screen gestures and keystroke combinations for the Surface. (Note that the … Read more

Microsoft's Surface tablet is now a voting machine in Virginia.

Democracy Live, a company based in Washington, works with several states to offer electronic ballots through its software, LiveBallot. According to GeekWire, which spoke with Democracy Live CEO Bryan Finney, a single Surface tablet is being used in a precinct in Charlottesville, Va., allowing voters to mark their ballots from the device.… Read more

The Taiwanese company, best known for its low-cost Netbooks from several years ago, has been one of the most outspoken opponents of Microsoft's new hardware push since the software giant first revealed its plans in June. Comments have ranged from pleas for Microsoft to change its plans to predictions Surface will flop. The common theme is that Acer believes Microsoft should stick to what it knows -- software -- and leave the hardware to its partners.

The problem with that criticism, though, is that it makes Acer look like a … Read more

Acer is pretty peeved with Microsoft's hardware push and continues to let the software giant know it.

The latest comments from the Taiwanese computer maker again criticize Microsoft's recent push to compete with its hardware partners.

According to a rough translation from Google, Linxian Lang, Acer's manager of Greater China operations, compared making hardware to food. He described the process to "hard rice" that's "not so easy to eat."

Of course, the translation is riddled with errors, but the general sentiment is clear: Acer thinks Microsoft should stick to what it does … Read more

Windows 8 is neither a completely foreign experience, as some have said, nor is it a smooth continuation of the Windows you've known for the past 11 years, since the start of the modern XP era.

From a hardware point of view, using Windows 8 and its not-Metro interface is eventually navigable after some trial and error, and memorizing a few new commands and gestures -- at least if you have one of the many new touch-screen laptops or all-in-one desktops.

Having tried it on a couple of new Windows 8 laptops that do not have touch screens (and … Read more

Just before Hurricane Sandy started to pummel the East Coast this week, Microsoft managed to grab the tech headlines with the official debut of Windows Phone 8.

The launch of the next-generation mobile operating system, which came on the heels of last week's splashy Windows 8 debut, got people talking with its support for multicore processors and mobile payments, and its tighter relationship with the Windows platform. And as with Windows 8, Window Phone 8 uses live tiles instead of icons. (Though Microsoft is already being sued for those tiles, over patent-infringement claims.)

So far, Windows Phone 8 has … Read more

In Windows 7, power users could display administrative tools on the Start menu. Now that Windows 8 has done away with the Start menu, you might be wondering where they went. If you happen to know the name of the tool you want to use, you can just search for it from the Start screen. If, however, you prefer to see them as tiles, here's how to get them onto your Start screen:

1. Hit the Win+I shortcut to bring up the Settings charm, then select Tiles.

2. Move the slider under "Show administrative tools" to … Read more