General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Windows 8 [View all]Occulus
(20,599 posts)It doesn't work well from the desktop for obvious reasons (the 'all apps' page being one, I never ever want to see that mess), but hitting the Windows key and then typing your search is how it's done. I very rarely used search in Win7; it sounds like it's exactly the same process, just presented differently. I very strongly disliked how the results appeared in Win7, but I can't quite explain why.
I just tried it with Notepad by typing 'note' from the start screen and yes, that's exactly how it's done. I would avoid doing it by right-clicking the lower left of the desktop and selecting 'search' OR using the pop-in charm from the desktop, though, as that brings up that horrible 'all apps' screen and it's just a jarring mess. Just go to Metro and type; it saves the visual pain.
edit: essentially, you're doing the exact same thing; they've just moved the Start Menu to the Start Page.