If you follow my posts you might have seen I planned and recently finished my new PC. Putting together a new PC is a bit of work, at least assembling all the parts together and making sure everything works. That's only one part of it though, as you also have to install Windows, install all your apps and games, and then get your data moved back.
My new PC doesn't have an optical drive, so I loaded up my Windows 8 ISO onto a USB drive and installed it. It didn't take long at all to install, and there was my new desktop. Once I got updates installed and all the necessary drivers installed it was now time to get all the software I needed installed.
Before I got too far into my new desktop, I found myself continually trying to open the start menu. After a few minutes of that, it was time to install Start8 and get my start menu back. I installed it and set it up to how I like it, which is to have the Windows keys on the keyboard open the Windows 8 Start screen, and the start button to open the start menu. Now it was much easier to navigate and quickly open places on my computer.
Next was to install Fences. I was downloading a bunch of apps to install and my desktop was quickly filling up with icons, so that is where Fences comes in. I created a folder portal with Fences to show my downloads folder, so everything I downloaded was placed there and was kept contained in that Fence. Instant order came to the desktop.
Once those were installed I started installing the most used and important apps. This is also a good time not to install everything you had before, and just focus on the software you really need and use. While I still have a few more things to install and get setup, these are my tops apps I got installed.
- Steam
- Office
- iTunes
- Chrome
- Firefox
- LastPass
- Dropbox
- Live Writer
- MetroTwit
- Snagit
Those are just a few of what I find most useful, but I still have several more to get installed. Here's my current desktop which I still need to do some more organizing with.
Get Start8: https://www.stardock.com/products/start8/
Get Fences: https://www.stardock.com/products/fences/