How to Shut Down, Sign Out or Restart Windows 8 the Easy Way

Here's a quick tip on how to sign out, shutdown or restart Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012 from the desktop the easy way.  Simply click the Windows Taskbar to give focus to the desktop and press Alt-F4.

Windows 8 presents a dropdown dialog box like this where you can easily switch user, signout, sleep, hibernate, shutdown or restart the computer:

Windows 8 Shut Down Dialog

Windows Server 2012 presents the following dialog box where your can disconnect (if connected via Remote Desktop), sign out, shut down, or restart the server:

Windows Server 2012 Shut Down Dialog

That's a heck of a lot easier than navigating through the charms, especially if your connected via RDP! Posted by Jeff Guillet 11:39 AM