How do I disable split screen for opening links?

Anonymous
2013-10-21T19:00:24+00:00

I am running Win 8.1 on a TABLET.  I have about 9 inches of screen real estate to work with.

If I click a link in, say, the Mail app, it will launch IE in 50/50 mode with the existing mail app (which then rearranges itself to only show the single message I was looking at).

This is not at all helpful.  This gives me a four inch web browser, which isn't big enough to see clearly at all.  The controls are all too close together to operate by touch, etc.  I am then forced to manually drag to expand the IE window to full screen.  Unfortunately, the control to do this is also rather small, and I usually miss the first two times.  It typically takes me about 10-15 seconds between clicking a link in email and being able to read the corresponding web page.

Windows 8 handled this correctly.  I would like to revert to the behavior of always opening apps in full screen mode.  How can I accomplish this?

I know it should be possible.  If I hold the tablet in portrait mode, the annoying split window thing does not happen.  (It's not natural for me to hold it this way all the time.)

Is there a registry setting or something for "Always open new apps in full screen mode"?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Accessibility

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-10-01T19:29:52+00:00

    I don't know if it will work the same on a tablet, but I found a solution that worked for me on a PC. 

    Go to your Control Panel and search Internet Options.  Once there, click on the Programs tab. 

    Under Opening Internet Explorer - Choose how you open links, change it to Always in Internet Explorer on the Desktop. 

    Once you do this, any link you open in an email while in the Mail App will open full screen in a new window in Internet Explorer on your desktop. 

    Once you are done, you'll have to go back into your Mail app.  I have it pinned to my taskbar in my desktop, so it is easy, but again, I'm not sure if this would work on a tablet.

    Hope that helped!

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-08-16T19:16:37+00:00

    Off topic - but which Windows tablet is 4:3?

    Interested because I hate 16:9 on tablets.

    Onda V975w.  Mine is actually a V975i that I flashed from Android to Win8.1, but a tricky hardware mod is needed to turn it into a V975w so if you wanted one, starting out with a V975w is the way to go.  It's a cheap Chinese tablet with all the risks and potential quality issues you might find on a Chinese brand, but it has the 2048x1536 "retina" screen out of the iPad and it looks gorgeous.  So crisp and clear.  No problems with mine so far.

    There is one other drawback and that's despite having identical specs to my Asus T100, the Windows Store won't let me install some games due to not meeting System Requirements.  Games that do install and work fine on the T100.  Only difference is 2048x1536 vs 1366x768 resolution, so maybe some games specifically require widescreen, I don't know.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-08-16T19:02:09+00:00

    Yes, I agree with everyone else. This split-screen mis-feature is super annoying!

    It was bad enough on my 10.1" widescreen tablet.  It's even worse on my 9.7" 4:3 ratio tablet.

    I HATE this "feature".  It's making me seriously consider going back to Android.

    Is anyone at Microsoft listening?

    Off topic - but which Windows tablet is 4:3?

    Interested because I hate 16:9 on tablets.

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  5. Anonymous
    2014-08-16T18:38:59+00:00

    Yes, I agree with everyone else. This split-screen mis-feature is super annoying!

    It was bad enough on my 10.1" widescreen tablet.  It's even worse on my 9.7" 4:3 ratio tablet.

    I HATE this "feature".  It's making me seriously consider going back to Android.

    Is anyone at Microsoft listening?

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