With the Nokia Lumia 800 now on sale across the country, you can finally try out the first real Windows Phone smartphone for yourself. And once you’ve got your new handset home with you, there are a few things that you’ll want to get set up straight away, so we’re here to show you how.

Personalise your handset
The first thing you’ll want to do when you switch on your Nokia Lumia 800 is to customise the Windows Phone OS to suit your taste. As well as changing the theme, ringtones and lock-screen wallpaper, you can also re-arrange the Windows Start screen, to give you easy access to all of your favourite apps.

To personalise the look and feel of the handset, just swipe to the right on the Windows Start screen to access your apps list and then scroll down to tap on Settings. From there you can then tap on Ringtones+Sounds or Themes, to customise your Lumia 800 and set it up exactly how you want it to be.

With that done, you can then modify the Windows Start screen – your Lumia 800’s main home screen – to give you easy access to your favourite apps. To do this, just tap and hold on any of the Windows Phone tiles until it pops forwards. You can then drag the tiles and drop them where you want them.

To remove a tile completely from your Windows Start screen, repeat the same tap and hold process and then tap on the small icon you see at the top right of each icon you select. And to add new tiles from your apps list, swipe to the right, then tap and hold on the app you want to add and select Pin to Start.

Add your contacts
Now that your Lumia 800 is set up how you want it, you can start adding your friends, family and colleagues to the Windows Phone People Hub. By default you’ll find the People tile at the top right of the Windows Start screen, so tap on it to open the People Hub and start adding contacts to your new phone.

The easiest way to add contacts is to transfer them from your existing Nokia Symbian phone. Just swipe to the right to open the apps list, then tap Settings > Bluetooth and make sure your Bluetooth is switched on. Now go back to the apps list and tap Contacts Transfer and you can locate your Symbian phone and transfer all your contacts with ease.

To add new contacts from scratch, all you have to do is open the People Hub and then tap the New button – illustrated with a '+' sign - at the bottom of the screen. You can then tap on New Contact and begin adding all the relevant details you need, including your contact’s name, phone number and email address.

Once you have added some contacts, you can then start arranging them into groups, using the Lumia 800’s great Groups tool. This can make it much easier to keep in touch and stay up to date with your friends, family and colleagues, by bringing them together into smaller, easier to manage groups.

To create a new group, just open the People Hub, tap the New button and select New Group. You can then name your group and tap the Save button at the bottom of the screen to create it. You can pin your new Group to the Windows Start screen for easy access and tap the pen icon to start adding people to it.

Set up your social networks
One of the best features of the new Nokia Lumia 800 is the fantastic way its Windows Phone OS integrates your social networks. With easy access to your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts, among others, you can quickly keep in touch and stay up to date with all that your friends have been up to.

To start adding your social network accounts to your new phone, just swipe to the right to open the apps list, then scroll down and tap on Settings. On the list that opens, again scroll down and you’ll see an option called Email+Accounts, so tap on this and then just tap on the option labelled Add an Account.

From here you’ll see a long list of all the various default options that are available to you, including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, so now you can just choose the one you want and tap on it to start instantly adding all your social network logins and get started with the Lumia 800’s great networking features.

Set up your email
As well as adding all your social network logins, you can also easily set up your Lumia 800 to synchronise with all of your email accounts. Using the great Windows Phone Outlook Mobile app, it’s easier than ever to browse, receive and send emails using your great new Nokia Windows Phone.

To start adding your email accounts to your Lumia 800, just tap on the Email Setup tile on the Windows Start screen. From there you can select your email provider from the list, then type in your email address and password and the Lumia 800 will automatically set up your account and start sending and receiving your email.

Once you’ve set up your accounts, you can access them by tapping on the Email tile on the Windows Start screen and you can enjoy great Windows Phone features such as Conversation View, Linked Inboxes and Threads, to more smoothly manage your emails and keep in touch with your friends easier than ever before.

Start downloading apps
And with tens of thousands of great apps available for your new Nokia Lumia 800, the last thing you should be sure to try on your first day is to download and try some of them out. All you have to do is tap the Marketplace tile on the Windows Phone start screen, to view the huge selection of high-quality apps.

Once you’ve opened Windows Marketplace, you can either tap on any of the Apps, Games or Music options, to browse the latest releases, or you can just swipe to the left or right to see the top-featured apps for the day. And if there’s a specific app you’re after, just tap the Search button at the bottom of the screen and you can find it quickly and easily.

Then, as soon as you find an app you like the look of, just tap on it to view full details and to see how much it will cost you. You can then either tap the Try button to test out the app for free, or tap the Buy button to pick up the full app straight away. The app will then be downloaded in seconds for you to enjoy on your Lumia 800.

With so many great features to try on the new Nokia Lumia 800, this list is only the beginning. And we’ll be bringing you plenty more handy guides to getting the best from your Nokia Windows Phone, so stay tuned and let us know in the Comments below if there any specific features that you’d like us to tell you more about.