Chapter 9. Using Windows 8.1 for Work

Whether it’s for work, college, or personal finance, Windows has always been the choice for being productive and getting things done. In Chapter 4, I showed you how you can snap two desktop windows side by side, which is a great way to compare two documents, and it’s a feature that I use all the time.

There is much more that you can do with the desktop, though, and I’ll show you how in this chapter. There are several ways to get Microsoft Office. If you are using a Windows 8.1 PC, laptop, ultrabook or tablet and you have not purchased a copy of Microsoft Office, you can use the free Office web apps, which are quite fully featured. If you are using a Windows RT PC, you will find full copies of Word, Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, and Outlook pre-installed.

Top Tips from This Chapter

  1. Windows RT comes with full versions of Word, Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
  2. The Ribbon can be operated by touch, and its tabs group similar functions together.
  3. The Mobility Center has tools that can dramatically extend the battery life of a laptop or tablet.

Using Microsoft Office in Windows 8.1

As I’ve said in the introduction to this chapter, there are different ways to use Microsoft Office depending on what version of Windows 8.1 you have. Microsoft Office is based around the company’s Ribbon interface, which was first seen in Office 2007. This is an alternative to the older-style drop-down menus as a way to access a program’s features. If you’re not used ...

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