How do I turn "Window 8" into Windows 8?

[aphellyon]

I got a win8 laptop for my wife for xmas and the inability to run programs in a windowed environment (even while in "desktop" mode) makes it almost useless. So far, I haven't found a setting for this... the only thing I've been able to do is to somehow drag out a small split-screen area on the right side of the Start page that takes up about 1/5th of the screen. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[MunkyTOS]

I'm not sure exactly if this helps but at around 2:58-3:00 he drags from the top to access multiple pages open.

. Also at around 4:40 they show the upper left corner giving you access to recently used apps. Hope this helps if this is what you were trying to do.

 

[aphellyon]

Thanks for the link. Sadly however, this only serves to confirm what I was worried about. Is "Snap" the only option? If that's true, then you can only have one other app/program on screen at any time... and it will be stuck in a tiny area off to the side (couldn't get snap to open any larger... to say, do a full split screen). Plus, it seems programs have to be compatible with snap to even do that. It appears the only things that run windowed are the system settings and task manager on the desktop screen. I can't believe how hideous this is on a lop top. I can't even run chrome in separate windows... say if I'm shopping and want to compare pics of different items from different websites next to each other. Often I need to have multiple sources of info open onscreen at the same time so I can write up something, or be able to reference things easily. There's got to be a way to do this in win 8, right?

 

[pwnmachine]

Is this Windows 8 Pro or RT?

 

[aphellyon]

Is this Windows 8 Pro or RT?

I don't have it in front of me atm (at work), but I'm guessing it's pro since the laptop has an intel cpu.

 

[pwnmachine]

Can't you access the options (swipe from the right) and select "windowed mode" ?

I am assuming it takes you into metro?

 

[Luis_GT]

Anything that runs in desktop mode should be windowed, if it loads up in the metro ui, then it won't.

What programs are you trying to run?

 

[SuperMrScratch]

I think you can use Hydra Vision if you have an AMD GPU to use 4 or more apps on one screen... I haven't tried it on my OS yet since my pc's dead.

 

[Zuzzz]

Try going here -> www.ninite.com and install the classic menu. It will install the Win7 style start menu. I think this will stop that issue and allow you to run straight from the desktop. Its free and no hastles. The item you are looking for is the last item under the 'Utilities" section.

Z

 

[makoppag3]

What application are you trying to run windowed? Is it for the Metro UI or for the Desktop? Even in Win7 there were some which did not run in any other mode than full screen. You could try selecting windowed from the drop down menu in the Run field, found in the properties of that application.