As someone who gets paid to know the ins and outs of the Microsoft Windows operating system, I often find myself accessing system utilities, configuration settings, and administrative tools. This is relatively easy to do in Windows 7, but as a more simplified user-orientation operating system, Windows 8 defaults to hiding many of those administrative applications. However, regaining access to those tools is just the flip of a switch away.
Note: This tip is strictly from the desktop or notebook PC perspective – we are not discussion tablets yet.
An HTML version of this gallery is available in a post to the Windows and Office Blog.
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Administrative tools
The image shows a typical Windows 8 Start Screen on a notebook PC – notice I have installed Office 2013, which accounts for the extra tiles.
All images by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic.
In addition, the traditional Windows hotkey shortcuts still work well for navigating Windows 8 with a keyboard/mouse for us veteran IT Pros that aren't always using touch screen devices. There's also a few new hotkeys. You can get the full list of hotkeys at 
