Along with GNOME, KDE is one of the two most sophisticated graphical environments. We will now discover KDE's possibilities for every-day work.
Here is the whole KDE desktop . The panel will be evoked later on. Different icons are directly available on the desktop:
Table 8-1. KDE's Desktop Icons
![]() | Access to the Mandrake Control Center, described in the "Mandrake Control Center" chapter. |
![]() | Configuring or monitoring your network access (please refer to "Configuring Internet Connections"). |
![]() | Mandrake News. |
![]() | Mandrake Expert. |
![]() | Mandrake online services (Mandrake Online). |
![]() | Mandrake Store, the online MandrakeSoft shop. |
![]() | Access to printing interface tool. |
![]() | Launches the file manager from your home directory (please refer to the Konqueror: KDE's File Manager chapter). |
![]() | Launches the file manager in order to browse the CD-ROM's contents. |
![]() | Launches the file manager in order to browse the floppy disk's contents. |
![]() | Tool used to rapidly close ("kill") an application which is not working correctly. |
Table 8-2. The KDE Panel
![]() | K menu used to access the software installed on your machine. |
![]() | Show Desktop: minimizes all your windows. Click again to maximize them. |
![]() | Launches the konsole program to use the command line (please refer to the Reference Manual for extensive information on its use). |
![]() | Launches the KDE Control Center used to configure your environment. Please refer to the Changing Styles section. |
![]() | Direct access to KDE's Internal Help. |
![]() | Also launches the file manager from your home directory. |
![]() | Launches the Konqueror web browser. |
![]() | Starts KDE's mail client. |
![]() | Opens up Kwrite, a powerful text editor. |
![]() | These buttons allow to switch from one "virtual desktop" to another. Please refer to the Manipulating Virtual Desktops section. |
![]() | The taskbar, which holds a button for every launched application. |
![]() | Allows to lock your screen. |
![]() | Allows to log out of KDE. |
![]() | The clipboard and its parameters. |
![]() | The clock, which can also display the date (right-click on it and choose Show date). Click on it to get a complete calendar. | -> . Then, select
![]() | Click on this button to minimize the toolbar on the right of the screen. |