I never thought anyone would have to write a how-to on shutting down a computer, but it took me quite a while to work out how to do it myself.

  1. Press the Windows key to get back to the Metro UI.

  2. Move the cursor to the very edge of the screen, at the bottom-left corner, and the “Start menu” or whatever it’s called now will appear.

    Screenshot of the Windows 8 Metro UI. The menu in the bottom left corner is open, and the cursor is hovering over the Settings item at the top.

  3. Click Settings at the top of the “Start menu”. A sidebar will appear on the right-hand side of the screen (counter-intuitively – why not on the left, where the mouse already is?)

    Another screenshot, where the Settings menu is open on the right, and the mouse cursor is hovering over Power, which is in the middle on the bottom row.

  4. Click Power, and then click Shut Down from the popup menu which appears.

    One last screenshot, where the Power button has been clicked, and the cursor is hovering over Shut Down, the first item in the popup menu which has appeared.

Again, I can’t believe it’s buried that deep. Why it couldn’t have been in the first menu in the bottom left corner, I don’t know. However, Windows 8 is a step in the right direction for Microsoft, I will say that.