I need to learn the "deep" nuts and bolts of Win 8 so I can figure out how to replace XP-Pro-based work habits I've developed over many years with equally efficient Win-8-based procedures. My goal will be to make Win 8 function efficiently as much as possible for work use. I will need to try to find ways to make old XP-compatible programs function under Win 8.
What educational materials do you recommend to acquire this level of knowledge? I have Win 8 loaded on a spare computer so I can experiment without affecting my production work.
The YouTube link in my signature can help you out with navigational basics.
To use the Start Screen effectively in conjunction with Desktop, I pin certain locations to Start so to me, it become a larger, visual start menu. For example, your Libraries should be pinned, Computer, Downloads, and the such. To do that, just right click on a folder, library, or drive and hit Pin to Start. It makes a tile shortcut where you can move around to your liking.
Also, pin your Desktop apps that you use often on it as well.
I'll post a screenshot of my Start Screen to help you out, visually.
OH! There's also Hyper-V that's built into Windows 8 Pro and Enterprise that might be able to help you get XP era programs working properly if they don't in comparability mode in 8. There's also VMware Player and Workstation that can be used as well. They're virtualization software.