Using your Graphical Environment

This section will introduce a few basic concepts and skills for using your computer. You may choose to use KDE or GNOME during the login process explained before.

The Mandrake Linux Desktop

All modern graphical environments share a common set of features: a main menu, a desktop area with some icons, a panel, etc. In the following paragraphs we will describe the elements which compose the desktop environment.

Figure 5.4. The KDE Desktop

The KDE Desktop

Figure 5.5. The GNOME Desktop

The GNOME Desktop
  1. On the left of the screen and in the bar at the bottom of the screen are icons. They are usually enhanced by a short description beneath them (the icon's title or name). Clicking on an icon either launches a program or opens a folder. In both cases a window will appear on the desktop.

  2. In the lower part of the screen is the panel. It provides a quick access to useful tools such as a Terminal, the help system, etc. Each icon symbolizes an application (or program). Just move your mouse cursor over one of them and leave it there for a few seconds. A yellow help balloon will appear to describe the icon's function.

  3. The icons and the panel do not float on the screen: they are “stuck” on something called the desktop, also called the background. In a sense, the desktop is where everything you see or use lives. Bring your mouse cursor on a free place on the desktop (i.e. where there is nothing) and right-click: a pull-down menu will appear which gives you access to several functions.

Accessing Programs

Since there are not lots of icons on the desktop or in the panel, you may be wondering how to access all the software you installed during the installation process. To do so, access the first icon on the left-side of the panel (also called the main menu):

Figure 5.6. Application Menu for KDE and GNOME

Application Menu for KDE and GNOME

Click on this icon and a pull-up menu listing the programs you can run will be displayed. They are organized by tasks, so finding the program you are looking for is easy.

To launch an application or a tool, click on the main menu icon, navigate through the menu's tree until you find the desired item and click on it. If you are uncertain about the function corresponding to a specific menu item, leave the mouse cursor over it for a second or two and a help message will pop up.

Opening a Window on the Desktop

If you click on the icon on the desktop labelled as Home, or Home of [your login name], you will hear your hard drive work a bit. Then one of those windows will appear:

Figure 5.7. KDE and GNOME File Managers

KDE and GNOME File Managers

You just launched a program (a file manager) which has opened a window showing the content of your Home directory. This is where all of your personal documents and files are stored: only you can access them. If you start saving a lot of files in it (e.g. text documents, MP3 files, etc.) we suggest that you create some sub-directories (for instance Documents, Music, etc.).

A window is composed of several parts. On the top is the title bar. It shows the name or title of the program you launched and possibly, the name of the document you are working on. It can be in two different states:

  • active, which means you are currently using it, or

  • inactive: the program is still running, but you are not currently interacting with it.

Usually, the active title bar is full-colored, whereas the inactive one is shaded or grey.

Just under the title bar is the menu bar. In our example, it says (from left to right) File, Edit, and so on. Click on File. A list of items will appear in a drop-down menu, each item giving you access to one of the program's functions.

Under the menu bar is the application's tool bar. It consists of one or more rows of icons, each one equivalent to an item in a drop-down menu: you can view them as a short-hand access to frequently-accessed program features which can be found elsewhere in the menu bar.

The status bar usually sits at the bottom of the window. There you will find information about what the program is doing. Not all programs offer this feature, but if the one you are using does, remember to check it from time to time.

Managing Windows and Desktops

We introduced the word desktop to point out the area of the screen where all objects (panel, icons, windows) are placed. Now, look at the panel at the bottom of the screen. You can see a group of four buttons:

Figure 5.8. Buttons for Virtual Desktops

Buttons for Virtual Desktops

These buttons give you access to virtual desktops, which are identical copies of the desktop you see after you have logged in. You will find more information about virtual desktop handling and usage in Chapter 7, Using KDE and Chapter 8, Using GNOME.

Click on the button labeled 2: as you can see, the window you opened before disappears. Don't worry, you did not close the window, you simply switched desktops, just as if you went from one desk to another.

Click on the button labeled 1. The previous desktop will be displayed.

This feature called virtual desktops (also known as workspace switcher) is very handy. It allows you to open several windows and to organize them as you desire.

You can also change the virtual desktop a window is currently in. This may be handy to logically organize your work by desktop, for instance moving all network related windows in desktop 2, all multimedia applications in desktop 3, and so on.

For this exercise you will need to use your mouse. With KDE, right-click on the window's title bar and a pull-down menu will appear containing an item named To Desktop. Just point to this item and a list of your virtual desktops will appear. Simply choose the virtual desktop towards which you want to move it.

With GNOME, right-clicking on the window's title bar gives you a pull-down menu in which you will see some Move to items, as shown in Figure 5.9.

Figure 5.9. Moving a Window to Another Desktop

Moving a Window to Another Desktop

Note

Note that the workspace you are in will be grey-shaded, which obviously means you cannot move your window to that workspace since you are already in it :-)

You will often find your window is in the right place, but it is too small or too big. Click on this button in the title bar:

Figure 5.10. Maximizing Windows

Maximizing Windows

This operation is called maximizing a window. Click again on the same button to bring the window back to its original size.

On the contrary, if you want to hide your window but keep the program running, click on this button:

Figure 5.11. Minimizing Windows

Minimizing Windows

The window seems to disappear. In fact, you resized it to its minimal possible size: an icon. This is called minimizing a window. You cleared the screen space it was using, but the program is still running. You can still see it there in the panel, on the task bar for KDE, tasklist for GNOME:

Figure 5.12. The Task Bar under KDE and Tasklist under GNOME

The Task Bar under KDE and Tasklist under GNOME

To view the window on your desktop once more, just click on the icon associated with it.

In most cases you do not want to maximize nor minimize the window. You just want some sort of middle range where you can adjust the window's size according to your needs. You can achieve this with your mouse and the boundary borders of the window.

Bring the mouse cursor to the right edge between the desktop and the running program. Your cursor will change to a double-arrow. Now act like you did when you moved the window, pressing the left mouse button and keeping it pressed while moving. The window resizes and its contents rearranges. When the new size satisfies you, just release the mouse button.

We did this using the right-hand border of the window. You can do the same thing with the bottom, top or left-hand borders. You can even do it with the window's corners, in which case you can resize the window in two directions simultaneously.

Note

Not all windows can resize this way, and sometimes minimum and maximum sizes are predefined.

As a final note about the buttons in the window's title bar, consider this one:

Figure 5.13. Closing a Window

Closing a Window

Clicking on this button (the close button) you simply stop the running program: you terminate it, you quit it.

Personalizing your Desktop

You can fully personalize your working environment to suit your personal tastes, such as the background, the windows and background colors, the “themes”, the way windows and icons behave, and so on. Please refer to the section called “Personalizing your Desktop” and the section called “Personalizing GNOME”.