The Great Shutdown Debate on Windows 8
Since September, I've been reading the many complaints regarding the process used to shut down a computer running Windows 8. The general theme is that's hard to find, with some folks suggesting that this is emblematic of Windows 8 being difficult to use.
Therefore, I thought I'd show the process of shutting down for both Windows 7 and Windows 8:
Windows 7 | Windows 8 |
Click the Start button | Click the Settings charm |
Click the Log Off button | Click the Power icon |
Click Shutdown | Click Shutdown |
It is the same number of actions. As I explained in one exchange recently, "it's just different." However, that's may be a little simplistic. After all, the Settings charm and panel is a new thing with Windows 8. People don't realize that the charms appear after a user action:
- Touch: Wipe in from the right
- Moue: Move mouse pointer to the upper-right corner
- Keyboard: Press WIN+C
The discoverability of the new charms system is low. So you could say the first step for each would be:
Windows 7 | Windows 8 |
Mouse the lower-left | Mouse to the upper-right |
Click the Start button | Click the Settings charm |
Click the Log Off button | Click the Power icon |
Click Shutdown | Click Shutdown |
Admittedly, you have to move the mouse a little father to get to the Settings charm (upper-right, then about 66% down the right-side). For touch users, it's a swipe-in from the right. For keyboard users, the process is more direct:
Windows 7 | Windows 8 |
Press the Start button or the WIN key | Press WIN+I to display the Settings panel |
Press Right Arrow to move to the Log Off button | Press Up Arrow to move to the power icon |
Press Space to display the menu | Press Space to display the menu |
Up or down to select Shut down | Press Up Arrow twice |
Press ENTER | Press ENTER |
The crux of the confusion is that people have gotten used to going to the Start menu to sleep or shut down their computer. During a recent discussion, someone reminded me that you have to press Start to stop (i.e. shut down). I remember when we shipped Windows 95 and how everyone made jokes about to shut down you had to press Start. Now that is no longer true, people are making jokes again that they can't find what to click to sleep or shut down.
If you need to shut down regularly, change the action for the Power button on your computer. By default, the Power button is set to put the computer into Sleep mode, but it can be changed to Sleep, Hibernate (if supported), Shut down, or do nothing.
The easiest way to get to that is to press the WIN+W and type "power". Then choose "Change what the power buttons do".