The first thing you'll want to do with your new Windows 8.1 machine is set it up to keep Metro out of your way with its new settings. Right-click the taskbar, click Properties and select the Navigation tab in the resulting screen. Here's where you can tame the majority of the annoying Metro features that pop up. You can disable hot corners, the app switcher bar, and most importantly, boot directly to the desktop.
Make files open in desktop apps and not Metro
By default your music, videos, pictures and PDF files open in Metro-style apps.To avoid this, you can go into settings and change file associations. I wrote this trick up in a previous article for Windows 8, and the process is the same for 8.1 too.
Get back the Start menu you know and love
Microsoft listened to users complaining about the lack of a Start button in Windows 8, sort of. There is a Start button, but it will take you to the new Start screen and you might prefer having the full menu like in previous versions. There's a couple of ways to go about getting it back. Either the free way, or spending US$5 for Start8. Personally, I prefer free, and recommend using Classic Shell. It's easy to use and provides a lot of customization features.
