Add a one-click shutdown tile to your Windows 8 Start screen to make it simpler to shut down

It takes too many actions to shut down a Windows 8 pc/laptop; more than it took in previous editions of Windows and for no good reason that I can see. But on the plus side it's easy to add a one-click tile to the Start screen which takes care of that problem very nicely. The following instructions will take you through the steps to create your own Start screen shutdown tile...

1. Click the Desktop tile or press Windows + D to get to the desktop
2. With the mouse cursor over an empty space on the desktop right-click and select new > shortcut.
3. Type shutdown /p in the location box then click Next, then click Finish
4. Optionally right click on the shortcut and choose the Change Icon button to select a more meaningful icon if that helps make it more relevant.
5. Right-click on the newly created shortcut and choose the Pin To Start option. Job done!