Hi All,

My real question is "How do you get into the Taskbar navigation tab" on 
a Lenovo desktop, but I also have a more general question about 
differences between PC manufacturers.

First, the Lenovo question. I'm trying to customize the Start area of my 
Windows 8.1 machine. The general instructions for doing this are to 
right-click on the taskbar, click on Properties, and go into the 
Navigation tab, where you can adjust settings to add or remove an 
on-screen Start button, go directly to the desktop on login, and choose 
Apps View instead of metro tiles. I did this on my Acer Aspire One 
Laptop, and all went well.

Btw, from the desktop, you can just tab to the taskbar or to the 
notification chevron, press alt+enter, and ctrl+tab to get to the same 
place.

I tried doing the same on my Lenovo Idea Pad, which is a desktop 
all-in-one. When I follow the same steps, I discover that the taskbar 
properties dialog doesn't include a Navigation tab. So I went to the 
official Lenovo Support page, and this is what it says:

To go to the desktop when you sign in

1. Open Taskbar and Navigation properties by swiping in from the right 
edge of the screen, tapping Search (or if you're using a mouse, pointing 
to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, 
and then clicking Search), entering Taskbar in the search box, and then 
tapping or clicking
Taskbar and Navigation in the results.

2. Tap or click the Navigation tab, then tap or click the When I sign in 
or close all apps on a screen, go to the desktop instead of Start check 
box. Then tap or click OK.

Most of the first step describes various ways to get to the Search 
option. I tried them all just in case, but FYI, the easiest way is to 
press the Start key and just start typing. I got exactly the same 
results each time, and none included "taskbar and navigation." Most of 
the results were the items that are in the Lenovo taskbar properties 
dialog, which doesn't include a navigation tab or any of the items found 
there.

I'm having a similar problem setting up the Apps View because the first 
step of the how-to is identical. Since first-letter navigation doesn't 
work in the metro area with Narrator, Jaws, and NVDA and since a few 
apps can't be moved to the desktop, finding them can be tedious. Using 
search is much simpler, of course, but you sometimes have to arrow 
through more than a couple of results, which is also annoying.

I've searched Lenovo forums and haven't found anyone with this problem 
of not finding the Navigation tab in the taskbar properties. I haven't 
found any alternative instructions either.

Does anyone have any ideas about how to find the missing Navigation tab 
on Lenovo PCS or any idea about why it's gone?

My second question is more general.

Do PC's tend to differ much from brand to brand?

I've almost always had two computers, a desktop for heavy-duty work at 
home and a laptop or netbook for work on the go. Off hand, I would say 
the desktop and laptop have always been different brands, maybe a Dell 
at home and a ThinkPad on the go. I don't think I've ever noticed 
differences between the two, except for trial software and other 
manufacturer applications for things like photo viewing. When I've 
needed to change a setting or tweak something, I've been abel to use the 
instructions I find on the net. This time, however, I've noticed a few 
differences between my Acer laptop and my Lenovo Idea Pad. This one is 
probably the biggest and most obvious, but there have been a couple of 
others.

Do computers running the same OS tend to be the same, or do they tend to 
be different? If differences are not unusual, do they tend to be around 
certain areas?

Thanks.

Ciao


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