Discovering the K Desktop Environment

This chapter will introduce the K Desktop Environment (KDE) and its panel. It will also talk about the concept of virtual desktops, how to navigate through and manage them, the KDE help system and session support. The range of features KDE offers as well as its personalization degree are huge and you are encouraged to consult the section called “KDE Help System” to learn more about this great desktop environment.

The Desktop

Figure 7.1. The KDE Desktop

The KDE Desktop

KDE follows the modern desktop paradigm. In the above figure you see the desktop itself with some icons on it, while the panel sits at the bottom. However, it introduces something new if you come from the Windows world: virtual desktops (see the section called “Virtual Desktops”)

Note

Virtual desktops are not an exclusive KDE concept. GNOME also uses them (see Chapter 8, Using GNOME). Other GNU/Linux desktop environments and window managers also make use of them.

The icons on the desktop represent files, directories, applications, devices, web pages (actually, the page's URL), etc. Almost “everything” can be placed on it. Different actions are associated to icons. For example: clicking on a text file opens it into a text editor, clicking on a web page opens the URL inside Konqueror (see the section called “File Managers: Konqueror and Nautilus”), and so on.

Here are some of your desktop's default icons, along with a brief explanation for each of them.

 Home. Gives access to all your personal files. Under UNIX-like operating systems (Mandrake Linux is one of them), every user has a personal directory usually named /home/user_name where user_name is the user's login name.

 Trash. Gives access to all deleted files (the equivalent of Windows' Recycle Bin). Please bear in mind that files can be deleted without being thrown into the trash can (“direct” file deletion) so some deleted files might not be accessible through the trash can.

 Dynamic Icons for Removable Media. There will be one icon for each removable device on your system (CD-ROM drive, floppy disk drive, ZIP/JAZ drives, etc.). Clicking on a device icon opens the medium inside that device. An error message may also be shown if there is no medium present or if the medium can not be read for some reason.

The Panel

Figure 7.2. The KDE Panel

The KDE Panel

The panel is the bar which sits at the bottom of your desktop[1] which contains the following main components:

 The Main Menu. Allows you to access the software installed on your system. It is the equivalent of Windows's Start menu. Programs are arranged into convenient categories so you can quickly and easily find the application you want to run.

 Show Desktop. Use this to minimize all currently opened windows. Pressing it again will restore the windows to the state they were previously in. Handy when you your desktop is so full of opened windows and that you want to access, for example, a folder on your desktop.

 Home Directory. This icon has the same function as the home icon on the desktop. It opens Konqueror on your home directory so that you can browse and manage your personal folders and documents.

 Desktop Switching Applet. Makes switching among virtual desktops as easy as one, two, three. See the section called “Virtual Desktops” for more information.

 Klipper. Allows you to access the clipboard. The latter is a temporary storage place for all objects (text, pictures, etc.) you copy on applications (using the application's Edit->Copy function). Using Klipper you can browse and manipulate all objects copied onto the clipboard.

Virtual Desktops

Virtual desktops give you more room to place your windows; they also allow you to better organize your windows by task.

Think of virtual desktops as having several screens available but with only one monitor. By default, there are four virtual desktops. To add or remove virtual desktops right-click on the desktop switching applet and select Configure Virtual Desktops from the pop-up menu. Using the slider at the top of the configuration dialog will allow you to select up to 16 virtual desktops. Press OK once you are satisfied with your settings.

By default, virtual desktops are named DesktopN, where N is the desktop number. To give more meaningful names to your virtual desktops (like Work, Play, Internet...), right-click on the desktop switching bar and select Configure Virtual Desktops from the pop-up menu. Click in the input field of the desktop for which you wish to change the name and type in the new one. Pressing Apply will make the changes effective immediately. Press OK once you are satisfied with your settings.

The first virtual desktop is the one opened by default when you log in into KDE. To switch among virtual desktops just click on the desktop name in the desktop switching applet et voilà !



[1] By default the panel is at the bottom, but it can be placed on any border of the desktop.