Social media has been a boon for businesses small and large, but it's also becoming a minefield for those unable to manage the increasing complexities of the run-and-gun nature of the beast. On a seemingly daily basis, we suffer through one “Twitter disaster” or another. It's becoming so commonplace that “Twitter disaster” really doesn't deserve to be in quotes.

Damage can occur with incredible swiftness. Although tweets and Facebook posts can be deleted, evidence of their existence is invariably captured and collected for posterity within seconds of their going live. Say something wrong on a social network, and it will haunt you for life.

Don't believe me? Check out these nine all-too-common reasons for failure, all of which involve real businesses being undone by a simple, wayward message on social media.

1. Hand the keys to someone not ready to drive

It's understandable that as a small-business owner you might not want to spend your days tending to the Twitter and Facebook pages. It's a high-effort job that often has minimal bottom-line impact, so it's very tempting to outsource the task to another company or hand it off to a low-level staffer.

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Running a household smoothly is like heading up a small business—even more so if you manage a home office on top of it all. You need to be detail-oriented, organized, and well equipped. Luckily, even if you lack those first two traits, the proper tools can go a long way toward filling the gap.

The following hardware, apps, and Web-based services are designed to help the chief technology officer of your family. These offerings can step in to assist with everything from syncing schedules and planning meals to securing your home and monitoring your kids’ content consumption.

Everyday organization

Sync schedules

An easy way to minimize the stress of running a household is to stay organized. The first step is for family members to share calendar access. Google Calendar is universally accessible online and simple to use, and it lets you add and view other people’s calendars while keeping some events private. (Read up on 21 Google Calendar tricks.) As for mobile devices, CalenMob for iOS or Chronos Calendar for Windows Phone both sync with Google. On Android, you can simply use the native app or try Touch Calendar.

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LinkedIn, the traditionally text-heavy social network for professionals, is getting visual with the launch of the LinkedIn Professional Portfolio, which lets you upload images, videos, presentations and documents to showcase your work.

"This means you can illustrate your greatest achievements in the form of stunning images, compelling videos, innovative presentations and more," says Udi Milo, project manager at LinkedIn.

"From the analyst who makes annual predictions on tech trends to the 3D animator who is looking to fund a new short film, the opportunities are limitless for how professionals can now use the LinkedIn profile to help showcase these unique stories in a visual way," Milo says.

You can upload images, videos, presentations and documents to your summary, experience and education sections of your profile. LinkedIn members can also like or comment on the work samples you've posted.

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If you’re only using LinkedIn as a glorified business-card collector, an email replacement or some kind of Facebook counterpart for business contacts, you’re missing out on its recruitment potential.

With 200 million users, LinkedIn has been making great strides lately to offer better tools for searching and posting jobs. With that in mind, here are five ways your small business can use LinkedIn to catch the next great candidate.

1. Approach anyone via Talent Finder

The free version of LinkedIn may not cut it for finding suitable employees, but that's not the case for the premium LinkedIn Talent Finder.

Businesses can use Talent Finder to contact all LinkedIn members with the InMail feature, see expanded profiles, get more search filters and results, and even discover great candidates who aren't actively seeking a job.

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What’s the best way to tell an expert PC user apart from a bumbling amateur? The expert doesn’t waste time. Time is money, after all, and there are tons of ways to speed up even the most basic computing tasks.

We’re going to contribute to your expert education with 21 simple things you can do to waste less time while you’re using a PC. Even if one of these tips saves you just five minutes each week, it’ll save you hours over the next year.

1. Tame your email with Inbox Zero

Email is a core tool, but also a huge time waster. For every second you spend messaging productively, you probably lose five more seconds searching for old emails or fretting over the mass in your inbox. Organize your inbox today, and you’ll save minutes every time you log in.

First, do whatever it takes to empty your inbox, and then try to keep it that way. Among the popular systems for organizing your email, Inbox Zero is straightforward, easy to understand, and a snap to start using.

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It's over between me and my file cabinet. Six drawers full of dead trees. Total weight: a gargantuan 194.7 pounds of paper. I can't think of any less useful way to utilize home office space, especially when most of the contents, once filed, will never be touched again. I’m also gearing up to move, and the thought of packing, unpacking, and refiling all that stuff made me even more eager to end the relationship, pronto.

My goal wasn’t necessarily to get rid of every scrap of paper (an impossibility in some cases, as I’ll discuss), but at least I wanted to get it all down to a single file cabinet drawer. Here's how I did it, and you can, too.

1. Sift and sort ruthlessly

Sifting through nearly 200 pounds of paperwork is a Herculean task that took me the better part of two full afternoons. If you’re embarking on a similar quest, this first step is easily the most difficult but also the most rewarding part of the process.

Here are some of the dead-tree gems from my personal archeological expedition:

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Cloud storage isn't just for files and photos. With the right tools and services, you can do much more: organize data, or automate uploads and downloads. Synchronize, of course. Score extra space without paying an extra cent. Run a basic Web site from a cloud service, manage media, or even fax.

Best of all, most of the following cloud secrets have a similar price tag: zero. Read on to learn how to leverage online storage services in ways you never dreamed possible.

ORGANIZE AND AUTOMATE

1. IFTTT is your cloud-data gofer

The amazing trigger service If This Then That was practically designed with cloud storage in mind. Like your own virtual gofer, you can set it to fetch and carry cloud-based data from one service to another. For example, it has a prewritten “recipe” that will automatically upload to SkyDrive any Facebook photos you’ve been tagged in. It has another that archives Gmail messages to your Box account. You can even save all your Instagram photos to Dropbox. Of course, those are just the recipes others have created. IFTTT also lets you cook up your own for just about any action/reaction you can imagine.

2. One cloud service to rule them all

It’s not uncommon to have different files spread across different cloud services. The hassle, of course, is finding the file you’re after. Otixo makes this easier by giving you access to Amazon S3, Box, Dropbox, SugarSync, and other services under one roof. You can search across all your accounts, preview and share documents and photos, and even move or copy files from one cloud to another. Otixo costs $4.99 per month, or $47.90 annually.

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Back in November, I told you how to get a 60-day trial of the then-new Microsoft Office 2013. That offer is still good, although it does require you to register with TechNet.

If that's not an option, or you received an Office 2013 trial on a new PC or downloaded it via other channels, you're typically limited to 30 days to test-drive the suite.

That's enough for some users, but to really see how it meshes with your operation, a longer trial would be better. Heck, maybe you just need some extra time to save up for the software, which isn't exactly cheap.

Fortunately, as you could with Office 2010, Microsoft allows you to "reset" your Office 2013 trial as many as five times, effectively giving you six months (more precisely, 180 days) of free usage. Although this option was really intended for IT administrators, there's no reason you can't use it with your own installed trial.

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Your best-laid plans of going paperless come to a screeching halt when you need to get someone's signature on a document. That process typically involves printing the document, signing it yourself, faxing it to the other party, and waiting for them to print, sign, and fax it back—where it's printed yet a third time and filed away in a cabinet forever.

It's an antiquated regimen. It's busy work. But there is a better way.

Electronic signature schemes have become big business. In fact, the e-signing sector is on track to grow north of $5 billion by the end of the decade, according to DocuSign CMO Dustin Grosse. E-signing tools represent a high-tech and much-needed response to the vast inefficiencies of dealing with physical signatures.

While systems vary from provider to provider, the general idea behind them is the same. You upload a document—Word, PDF, or even an image file—to an online service, then tag it with special annotations where signatures eventually need to go. The service sends this marked-up file to your specified recipients, who then "sign" it with a few clicks, either with stock cursive fonts or with a scrawl they draw using their mouse (or a finger, using a tablet) on the fly. When finished, the signed file is sent back to you, mission accomplished.

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A Twitter chat is an awesome way to engage an audience, increase your brand's social visibility, and connect with an audience in a new way.

I’ve hosted and participated in several Twitter chats over the last few years. My number of Twitter followers has increased each time, as have the Twitter follows of the other participants. Plus, I’m able to connect with others in a way that’s different from a traditional webinar or video chat.

A Twitter chat happens in real time. It’s defined by a moderated posting of questions and answers on Twitter over a certain period of time, often one hour. Participants joining the conversation use a hashtag (say, for example, #pcworldtalk) to tag each tweet. Everyone who wants to follow in the live, online discussion can click on that hashtag to bring up a list of tweets containing the same hashtag.

Before you throw together an impromptu Twitter chat session, follow these steps below.

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If you rely heavily on Google services, as so many small-business users do these days, you're probably familiar with the black toolbar that spans the top of various Google services. It provides quick and convenient access to apps like Search, Gmail, Calendar, and so on.

Ah, but what happens when you're viewing a non-Google site? No toolbar, that's what.

Black Menu for Chrome puts all Google services just a click away. Once installed, this extension adds a button to your browser that reveals an attractive drop-down menu for all Google's best stuff: Search, Google+, Translate, Maps, Gmail, Calendar, and the like.

Even better, when you mouse over any of these items, you get an interactive window for using them. For example, mouse over Search and you've got a Google Search field ready for your terms. Mouse over Gmail and you'll see your inbox, where you can read and respond to messages, compose new ones, and even access your search filters.

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There's a reason QuickBooks remains the most popular small business accounting software. Intuit has spent 13 years honing its features, after all. Because there's a new version every year, however, you might not be up to speed on everything you can do to make QuickBooks easier and faster to use.

Whether you're building reports or seeking shortcuts to summon key information, these tips will save you time and keystrokes. Each tip is labeled with the QuickBooks edition year in which it first appeared, going back to QuickBooks 2010. Anything older is simply shown as pre-2010.

Make QuickBooks follow your preferences

QuickBooks offers a huge number of options in its Preferences window, which you access from the Edit menu. For each Preference item, you get tabs for personal and company options. The personal options apply only to the current user, while company options appear to all users. It’s worth clicking on both tabs to see all of your customization choices.

1. Choose your desktop (QB2010)

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Six months ago, LinkedIn launched a new feature called Endorsements, which is located in the “Skills & Expertise” section near the bottom of your profile.

Endorsements let your connections vote up your skills and areas of expertise. Your skills are then ranked and re-ranked based on how many people have endorsed them, with their profile pictures appearing next to each skill. Your connections can also add new skills to your profile that they’d like to endorse.

In March, LinkedIn announced that more than 1 billion endorsements had been given to 58 million professionals.

“Skill endorsements are a great way to help build your professional brand. In fact, you’re four times more likely to be viewed on LinkedIn if you’ve been endorsed,” says Peter Rusev, associate product manager at LinkedIn.

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You can already bend Evernote’s notes, notebooks, and stacks to your will. And maybe you’ve directed your team to use Evernote Business. Evernote is friendly when you’re getting started with it, but the more you use it, the more your notes can pile up, threatening your productivity.

Now that you’ve excelled at the basics, it’s time to dig into Evernote’s arsenal and charge ahead like a true note-taking, to-do-list-tackling warrior.

Use checkboxes in notes

One of the more popular uses for Evernote is to create lists, such as to-do lists, shopping lists, enemies lists, and the like. A simple text list is fine, but you can enhance the utility of your list by adding checkboxes to the items on it.

Checkboxes are simple to add but easily overlooked. When creating a text note, look at the toolbar across the top of the screen. You'll see an icon that looks, well, like a checkbox. Simply click this icon wherever you'd like to add a checkbox in your list.

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Microsoft Office has long been the gold standard for creating, editing, and formatting serious documents. Google Docs and other Web-based competitors, however, have outpaced Office by making it easy to share and coedit documents in real time.

Enter the new Office suites. Released earlier this year, they make up lost ground by letting you collaborate with other people through a mixture of desktop and browser applications. The features are a step in the right direction, but Microsoft’s new take on collaboration ultimately fails to be as easy as it should be.

Whether you’re thinking about purchasing an Office 365 subscription or buying Office 2013 desktop software—or are already using either one—read on to learn about the agony and ecstasy of coediting.

I tested collaboration for Word, Excel, OneNote, and PowerPoint, both with colleagues on an Office 365 Small Business Premium account and with people outside our company who didn’t even have Office 2013.

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Kickstarter might be the poster child of crowdfunding, but the space is vastly larger than you might imagine. And according to a recent report, it’s ballooning like crazy.

If you're not familiar with the concept, crowdfunding is a means to raise capital, usually over the Internet from people who believe in what you're trying to accomplish.

Research firm Massolution, a crowdsourcing consultancy, polled 308 crowdfunding platforms (who knew there were so many?). It found that in 2012 more than 1 million successful campaigns were held, raising $2.7 billion worldwide. Globally, crowdfunding grew 81 percent in 2012, compared with 61 percent growth in 2011. What’s more, Massolution predicts that this year global crowdfunding volumes will reach $5.1 billion.

It’s all great news for startups and small businesses looking for dollars, but hitting a crowdfunding home run is far from a sure thing. In fact, untold numbers of campaigns wind up flopping.

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LinkedIn is the most popular business network on the planet, boasting more than 200 million users. You’re probably one of them. Also highly probable: You’re not taking full advantage of this business and career networking service.

Here’s the good news: LinkedIn can be an excellent resource without becoming a time sink. Don’t neglect your profile or the service in general just because you’re not actively looking for a job at this very moment. Hiring managers, clients, colleagues, and potential customers and business partners are constantly browsing LinkedIn. A killer profile and savvy search skills will give you a competitive edge. It might also remind your current boss—who is probably doing the same thing—just why you’re so valuable (and potentially poachable).

Our five-step guide will make you a LinkedIn power user, so you can land your next job opportunity, promotion, or business deal.

Step 1: Polish your profile

Your professional profile is the most important—and often the most neglected—element of LinkedIn. This is where you display your work experience, skills, and education. More important, it’s the best place to inject some personality into what can otherwise be a dull laundry list of a résumé.

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During a recent trip I stayed at a hotel offering free Wi-Fi—always a nice perk. Just one problem: the network was terrible. The connection speed reminded me of my old dial-up modem, but without the consistency.

Needless to say, it was impossible for me to get my work done, and that was a problem. Fortunately, I'm a Boy Scout when it comes to tech obstacles: always prepared. When faced with flaky hotel Wi-Fi, I try one or more of these six fixes:

1. Ask the front desk to reset the router  If you can't get or stay connected, it might just be a router issue. Call the front desk, tell them you can't get on their network, and ask them to reset the hotel router. Wait 5-10 minutes and then try again to connect.

2. Check for an Ethernet option  Some hotel rooms have an Ethernet port or cord that would allow your laptop to bypass Wi-Fi altogether and just jack into the network. If you need to share that connection with, say, your tablet, try Connectify Hotspot, which acts as a software router on your laptop. Alternately, pack a travel router like the TP-LINK TL-WR702N.

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Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer's recent ban on telecommuting sent shockwaves across the business world. Pundits were quick to take sides, with supporters of the work-at-home option insisting that such arrangements "can make you more productive," and naysayers denouncing telecommuting as "the worst of everything."

They're both right. If you telecommute the right way, you'll save countless hours that you'd otherwise waste in commuting, You'll also enjoy a more stable life, and do a better job. But you do it wrong, working from home can wreck you. I know because I've spent the last seven years working from home—four of them, ironically, at Yahoo.

To make telecommuting work for you and your employer, follow this advice. (If you're the boss, these tips can help you manage remote workers better.)

Ensure connectivity is up to snuff

You may not think twice about the Internet connection at your office—but when you're outfitting your home, bandwidth is a crucial consideration. Check with your Internet service provider about upgrades, particularly faster data service. Comcast, for example, offers 50 mbps and even 100 mbps business-level service plans, both of them considerably faster than the sub-10-mbps speeds that most consumers receive with their plans. Otherwise, investigate different ISPs.

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The Reply All button is a fickle mistress. It's useful for communicating with a group, but it can be often abused, filling your inbox with a chain of inane responses that you just don't need to see. No matter how many times you delete these messages from your inbox, the next message in the chain will make it all come flashing back.

For users of Gmail, there's a quick response that doesn't require you to mark the email as spam or threaten the emailers with bodily harm. Yes, Gmail makes it easy to mute specific email threads and keep them out of your inbox.

If you're accessing the Web version of Gmail, simply locate the offending email or email thread, click on the More button on the top toolbar, and select Mute from the drop down menu. The email will be removed from your Inbox and further replies to that thread will be hidden.

The message will pop back into your mailbox, but only if someone in the thread emails you directly. And don't worry, Muted emails aren't actually gone: If it turns out that a boring thread got interesting later on, you can still read it by going to the All Mail section of Gmail.

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Buried within Windows 8 are little-known features that can give your website a prominent presence alongside the apps on any user's desktop. Exploiting these options can enhance your site's visitor experience and give your business a competitive advantage. For example, people can pin your website to Windows 8's new Start Screen, share your site with others via its Charms bar, and access shortcuts to your content.

Although Windows 8 remains controversial, it counts millions of early adopters, and Windows will likely remain the most popular operating system for the foreseeable future. That's why it matters to optimize your website now for Microsoft's newest OS. Luckily, all it takes is adding add some custom code to your website, and it doesn't take heavy-duty developer skills. Read on to get started.

Customize your Windows 8 Start Screen tile

When visitors browse your website using the Internet Explorer app in the new Windows 8 interface, they can pin your site to the Windows Start Screen. This creates a "live tile" icon in Windows, serving as a shortcut to your site.

Make sure your website has a favicon—the Favorite or Bookmark icon that appears in your browser's address bar or tab—since that icon appears in Windows 8's tile. Otherwise, you'll see the IE icon by default. Windows 8 extracts the dominant color from your favicon, if available, and uses it as the live tile’s background color. It uses your site’s HTML title tag for the name of the tile.

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It has become harder than ever to stake your claim on the Web. Searches for your small business's name don't always lead to your website. Companies with similar names or splashier domain names—along with random online product listings and completely unrelated results—too often beat your business to the top of Google's results. If you're in a commoditized industry, such as plumbing, dry cleaning, or coffee sales, standing out online is increasingly difficult.

Managing your own website and submitting it to Google are good first steps, but they're no longer enough. Read on to learn how to upgrade your online presence on your own website and on third-party sites, so that people can  find you on the Web when they come looking.

Build up your website

Today, a one-page website is the equivalent of an ad in birdseed type in the Yellow Pages. If you know exactly what you're looking for, you can find it—but most shoppers will skip right past you.

Fortunately, the first key to standing out involves a tactic that lies completely within your control: building up the size of your website. Though Google's algorithms aren't public, sites with more pages tend to rank higher in search engine results. Google also devotes more links and real estate to pages that have a deeper page structure, embedding secondary links called Google Sitelinks to subsidiary pages on your website. A Google result of this type can consume up to three times as much screen space as a standard search result.

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There's a lot to like about the new Office 2013. Heck, some might argue that Outlook alone is worth the price of admission.

One thing that bothers me, however, is the startup screen that appears when you launch Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. It's a nice addition, and a quick way to access recent documents or create a new one using a template, but it's not how I like to work.

Fortunately, it's fairly easy to configure Office to bypass that screen for the aforementioned three programs. Here's how, using Word as an example:

1. Run Word. Open a document, create a new one, or whatever. The goal is to move past the startup screen.

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Scope creep. Team members who don't understand what's expected of them. Poor inter-departmental communication. These are just some of the problems project managers constantly face.

So how do you keep projects under control? CIO.com asked dozens of project managers and project management experts to find out. Here are their top 13 suggestions for dealing with the challenges all project managers face at one time or another—and for keeping projects in check.

Flickr: C Knaus

1. Appoint the right project manager for the job."Hire project managers who will have the respect of the developers and who understand what they are doing," says Harry E. Keller, the president, CEO and founder of Smart Science Education Inc. "Nothing kills IT projects faster than poor management. It's tough because most developers aren't suited to management and most managers are clueless regarding developer types, but it's worth the effort."

2. Support the project manager with the right team. "The CIO must adequately equip the team with the right people," says Ben Lichtenwalner, senior manager of Internet & eCommerce for Whirlpool Corporation and founder of ModernServantLeader.com. Not only must you choose the right project manager, but you need to "support your project manager with the right team members (business analyst, QA manager, etc.) so the project manager can [properly] manage the project and [doesn't] do all the work."

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If your staffers simply need a note-taking application, Evernote is an obvious choice—it's the 800-pound gorilla, having grown in five years to 50 million users. But the program also offers an eclectic assortment of productivity features, and this is where its utility in business environments is much less obvious.

Yes, Evernote runs on nearly every platform, and it can capture whatever information you collect in the wild, including notes, images, videos, links, voice recordings, and even handwritten scribbles. The app is packed with possibility, yet Evernote's CEO admits that its usefulness isn't immediately self-evident. But try it for at least a few weeks, Phil Libin says, and you'll appreciate how Evernote provides direct access to everything you might mentally and physically bookmark during a day's worth of work.

You might even consider it your "second brain," surfacing data you didn't know you could live without.

Why Evernote?

Evernote can archive organizational wisdom. Think of the notes you scribbled on a business card two years ago. Or your manager's instructions that you (thankfully) recorded last week. Or the obscure article you clipped about a key competitor. Now, what if the rest of your colleagues could access that kind of Evernote data from any device, and what if you could access their data too? With Evernote, that archive of data doesn't collect dust. Instead, it grows and adapts along with your business.

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Since the rise of Google AdWords, pay-per-click advertising has been the de facto way to promote just about anything online, whether you're selling bottle openers or want to sue over asbestos-related illnesses.

But pay-per-click (PPC) prices are on the rise. Some keywords that used to cost a quarter per click now run a dollar or more. Some keywords, like "mesothelioma settlement," command over $100 for the top spot on Google's ad placements. PPC ads are still effective, but they've become less profitable for many.

The most promising alternative advertising outlet is in the realm of social media. After all, the average user spends hours every month on Facebook. Why not reach them where they're already engaged?

Nearly every major social media site offers advertising options, each with its own spin. (Read more in "Do social media ads really work?") But managing these ads takes extra work, not to mention the expenses you incur for running ads on each outlet. Luckily, social media ads don't have to consume your work week. Read on to learn how to start advertising with the most popular and effective social networks.

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Microsoft did its best to usher in a new era of desktop computing with the launch of Windows 8, but many businesses and individuals are opting out. Linux-based operating systems, meanwhile, present an increasingly compelling alternative. Benefits include tougher security and superior customization—not to mention that Linux is usually free.

If you're ready to make the leap to desktop Linux, this guide will show you where to begin and how to choose the right OS and software for your small business. With advice on everything from choosing your Linux distribution and desktop software to easing the transition, we'll help you get started on the right foot.

How to choose Linux for your desktop

Flickr: tshik2

There are numerous flavors, or "distributions," of Linux, each offering a distinct experience for a particular taste or purpose. All are based on the Linux kernel, which is its core OS code. On top of that kernel, distributions may add different desktop environments, applications, and features.

Ubuntu and Linux Mint are two of the more popular contenders. But a quick glance at DistroWatch, which keeps tabs on most distributions, shows just how vast the pool of choices is. Most distros, as they're called, are easily customizable, whether with industry-specific apps and modules or varied graphical interfaces. That said, the more your base Linux package delivers what you want, the less time you'll spend tweaking it.

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Google Apps offers cash-strapped small businesses a lot of bang for the buck, but one app that can cause problems is Gmail.

Specifically, each Google Apps account affords just 25GB of Gmail storage, meaning it's not uncommon for users to bump into that ceiling—especially if they're on the receiving end of a lot of attachments.

When that happens, the user can't send or receive mail, which is a potentially serious problem. What if a customer submits an order and your sales guy doesn't receive it because his mailbox is full?

Backupify's new FreeSpace promises to help clear out overstuffed Gmail accounts. It does so primarily by scanning inboxes for attachments and identifying the largest ones, then allowing users to delete or download them.

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These days, most people think of "social media" when they hear "community building," but forums, membership sites and old-fashioned meet-ups are also good places to promote your brand, share your expertise and attract customers.

Membership Sites: Exclusive resources, for a fee

One way of building an online community is by creating a membership site, where you charge a membership fee in exchange for exclusive resources that can range from tutorials to software programs. Just make sure the information that you'll provide is unique, has high value and is unavailable elsewhere for free.

You can take several approaches with pricing. One is a fixed price, paid up front, for one year of membership. Another is a fixed monthly price. A third option is a low introductory price that will then roll over into a monthly fee.

Using a monthly rate as opposed to a yearly fee will ease sticker shock. For example, a yearly price of $199 could turn off potential customers, but a monthly fee of $19.95 may not-and with the latter fee, you would actually earn more over the course of a year. Monthly rates also make subscribers less likely to cancel their membership, since they don't see the larger $199 fee recurring once a year. ClickBank has some tools that will allow you to create a recurring fee structure for a membership site.

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In a world exploding with tablets and touchscreens, Microsoft's decision to saddle Windows 8 with the finger-friendly Modern interface formerly known as Metro makes a lot of sense—for Microsoft. But if you're among the majority of Windows users who aren't using a tablet or a touchscreen, the focus on Live Tiles and mobile-centric apps is more of a frustration than a feature. Vexingly, Windows 8 is riddled with sneaky ways to drag you out of the desktop and dump you on that shifting, shiny Start screen.

Windows 8 and its controversial interface will come preinstalled on practically every computer sold over the next few years, but fear not! Die-hard desktop jockeys don't have to learn to stop worrying and love the Live Tiles.

Here's a step-by-step guide to banishing the Modern interface from your Windows 8 life. Once it's gone, you might just come to appreciate Windows 8 even more than you do Windows 7. I have.

Set the stage

Given the Modern interface's deep hooks in Windows 8, it's hardly surprising that cutting the cord isn't an instantaneous one-snip process. Every major program you might need for everyday use—from Mail to Messaging to Video—shows up in Modern app form, rather than as a proper piece of desktop software. So before you can excise Modern, you have to find some desktop alternatives for the default apps.

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