Windows 8.1: The Missing Manual

Video

This “app” is a lot like the Music app described earlier. It serves two purposes:

• It’s a gateway to Microsoft’s TV and movie stores. Scroll off to the right, and you see tiles representing the latest rentable or buyable movies and TV episodes (Figure 4-47, top).

  

  Figure 4-47. Exactly as in the Music app, the Video app is basically a billboard for stuff Microsoft thinks you might want to buy; the button awaits if you want to find some particular movie or show to watch. When you choose one of your own videos, it opens full screen and begins to play. The only controls are the huge Play/Pause button and the scroll bar; both fade away after a couple of seconds. Move the mouse to bring them back. You can also use the space bar to start or stop playback.

• It’s a player for your own videos. The Video app opens up to Microsoft’s store. But if you scroll to the left, you find tiles that represent your own video collection—whatever files you’ve added to the Videos library folder at the desktop (Working with Library Contents). See Figure 4-47 (bottom).