How do you turn off Fullscreen mode in Windows 8?

I use a lot charts and graphs for my job and I like having this data displayed while im working. Opening just one file in the Preview app takes up my entire monitor and I cannot display multiple images at the same time. This is so **** frustrating that I took time out of my day just to create this account and make this post.

The kicker is if you want to downgrade to windows 7 on a machine that came with Windows 8 preinstalled its a huge pain in the ****.

"There's one more thing you'll need to understand: Microsoft's end user license agreement as it relates to Windows 8 downgrade rights. In essence, downgrades are permitted only from Windows 8 Pro. If you bought plain-old Windows 8, you'll have to purchase a new license for the Windows 7 version you want. What's more, Windows 8 Pro can't be downgraded to anything other than Windows 7 Professional or Windows Vista Business. We think most people will opt for the former, so our instructions act accordingly. Also note that with the exception of the Windows 7 key acquisition (which in itself is not trivial), the steps for downgrading from Windows 8 Pro and non-Pro are identical."

Well played, Microsoft. Bye

I completely agree.  Isn't the concept of "windows" to have multiple "windows" that you can move around?  This is not conducive to writing research papers or doing anything educational whatsoever, among other things.  Windows 8 is a horrible horrible design.  I'll probably switch to a Mac very soon, congrats Windows, you've just lost a loyal customer and I'm gonna take all my friends/family with me!

I'm with ya!!

Yea, junkiest thing I have ever seen! I had 98, Windows me, XP, Vista and now Windows 7 but I wouldn't let anyone give me a new top of the line computer with Windows 8 on it! My daughter bought one and then bought my grandson one and he comes over here cause he hates Windows 8 and can't stand using it. Pfft to that operating system... What were they thinking????

"The new full screen stuff is there if you have a tablet, but if you don't, you aren't forced to use it."

I am not entirely sure I agree with your assessment. While you can indeed get much or even most of what is with Windows 8 to work like the old desktop there are a great many applications that insist on starting up in full screen mode, as though my $3000 computer with a combined (wide) screen size of about 81" is a 7" tablet.

I think I understand what Microsoft was going for but they totally missed the boat. If you want to use your applications like you used to you have to set the different applications INDIVIDUALLY. You can't just tell Windows 8 that you don't want ANY of the tablet features on your desktop.

All this brings even more credence to the idea that there are two teams of developers at Microsoft alternating development cycles but that sadly it is only the even numbered teams (or is it Odd I have lost track) that actually know what they are doing. This was a massive failure. Windows 7 was the first really good operating system that very nearly caught up with Mac, and was even better in a few ways the 'BAM' someone gets the brilliant idea that not only should the new OS support tablets (good idea) that it should ONLY support tablets, focus on tablets as its primary market and make desktop users everywhere want to throw their computers out their windows just like they did with previous versions of windows.

Can you get the sense that people are a little frustrated? You suggest a lot of work arounds and configurations but they are still workarounds and configurations where it should be possible to run this OS in either desktop mode (old way) or tablet mode (new way) not force desktop users to deal with a lot of nonsense, reconfiguration and settings on EVERY application to get it to work the way they like best. This is not a case of grumpy luddites failing to embrace a new technology that would only be better if you gave it a chance IT IS FUNCTIONALLY WORSE in substantial ways.

Could you please pass on the info that we would all very much like a single checkbox somewhere in the display or system settings to disable those features best suited for a tablet.

Thanks