I believe to shutdown you just press the power button on the tablet or laptop. At least on my surface it is that way, probably there is a setting somewhere to change that into 'sleep' mode. I assume that is the intended way to power off, and to do that in 'Settings' is just an alternative way. My kids have figured out the power button right away, so that is also the most intuitive way to power off.

>I've been thinking more about shutdown. The current recommendation is to not shutdown, but sleep. But the steps to get there are still not easy.
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>>Craig, you are drinking a Cook Aid. If the designers of Windows 8 decided that to shutdown a computer should take more than 3 clicks (and hide it in the settings), it is the ultimate case of the arrogance or stupidity (you choose). Most people don't care about memory management; most people want to buy the computer and use it. I bought this computer for my wife (who is not a technical person but very much a professional, director level professional of a fortune 500 company. After struggling with Windows 8, she said she would suggest to her company IT NEVER upgrade to Windows 8).