Introduction
When you start a desktop session for the first time,
you should see a default startup screen, with panels, windows,
and various icons.
The major components of the GNOME Desktop are as follows:
- Desktop
The desktop itself is behind all of the other components on the
desktop. You can place objects on the desktop to access your files and
directories quickly, or to start applications that you use often. See
the section called “The Desktop” for more information.
- Panels
-
The panels are the two bars that run along the top and bottom of the screen. By default, the top panel shows you the GNOME main menu bar, the date and time, and the launcher for the GNOME help system, and the bottom panel shows you the list of open windows and the workspace switcher.
Panels can be customized to contain a variety of tools, such as other menus and launchers, and small utility applications, called
panel applets. For example, you can configure
your panel to display the current weather for your location. For more
information on panels, see Chapter 4, Working With Panels.
- Windows
Most applications run inside of one or more windows.
You can display multiple windows on your desktop at the same time.
Windows can be resized and moved around to accommodate your workflow.
Each window has a titlebar at the top with
buttons which allow you to minimize, maximize, and close the window.
For more information on working with windows, see
the section called “Windows”.
- Workspaces
You can subdivide your desktop into separate
workspaces. Each workspace can contain
several windows, allowing you to group related tasks together.
For more information on working with workspaces, see
the section called “Workspaces”.
- File Manager
The Nautilus file manager
provides access to your files, folders, and applications. You can
manage the contents of folders in the file manager and open the files
in the appropriate applications. See Chapter 6, Nautilus File Manager for
more information.
- Preferences
You can customize your desktop using the desktop
preference tools. Each tool controls
a particular part of the behavior of the desktop. The preference
tools can be found in the submenu
of the top-level menu on your panel.
See Chapter 8, Configuring Your Desktop for more information on the various
preference tools.
Your vendor or system administrator can make configuration changes to
suit your needs, so your desktop might not match exactly what is described
in this manual. Nevertheless, this manual provides a useful introduction
to using the various components of your desktop.
