Chapter 2Overview of the GNOME Desktop
This chapter introduces you to the features and main components
of the GNOME Desktop. Before you start to use the desktop environment, read
this chapter to familiarize yourself with the various features, and how the
main components work. The desktop environment is very configurable, so this
chapter describes the typical default configuration.
Introducing Desktop Environment Components
When you start a desktop environment session for the first
time, you should see a default startup screen, with panels, windows, and various
icons. Figure 2-1 shows a typical desktop environment.
Figure 2-1 A Typical Desktop Environment
 The major components of the desktop environment are as follows: Panels
Panels are areas in your desktop environment from which you can access
all of your system applications and menus. Panels are very configurable.
A particularly important panel in Figure 2-1 is the
Menu Panel. The Menu Panel stretches the full width of the top edge of the
screen. The Menu Panel includes two special menus, as follows:
Applications menu: Contains all applications
and configuration tools. This menu also includes the file manager and the
help browser. To start the file manager, choose Home Folder
from the Applications menu.
Actions menu: Contains various commands
that perform desktop environment functions, for example Search
for Files and Log Out.
Click on the icon at the extreme right of the Menu Panel to display
a list of all open windows.
Menus
You can access all desktop environment functions through menus. The
Menu Panel contains menus, so you can use a combination of menus and panels
to perform your tasks. You can use the Applications menu
and the Actions menu to access almost all of the standard
applications, commands, and configuration options.
You can also access almost all of the standard applications, commands,
and configuration options from the GNOME Menu. You can
access the items in the Applications and Actions menus from the GNOME Menu. You can add the GNOME Menu as a button to your panels.
Windows
You can display many windows at the same time. You can run different
applications in each window. The window manager provides frames and buttons
for windows. The window manager enables you to perform standard actions such
as move, close, and resize windows.
Workspaces
You can subdivide your desktop environment into separate workspaces. A workspace is a discrete area in your desktop environment
in which you can work. You can specify the number of workspaces in your desktop
environment. You can switch to a different workspace, but you can only display
one workspace at a time.
Nautilus file manager
The Nautilus file manager provides an integrated
access point to your files and applications. You can display the contents
of your files within a Nautilus window, or open
the files in the appropriate application from Nautilus.
You can use the file manager to manage your files and folders.
Desktop
The desktop lies behind all of the other components in the desktop environment.
The desktop is an active component of the user interface. You can place objects
on the desktop to quickly access your files and directories, or to start
applications that you use often. You can also right-click on the desktop background
to open a menu.
Start Here location
The Start Here location provides an access point
to some of the key features of the desktop environment. You can access your
GNOME applications and configuration tools from the Start Here
location. You can also access programs that enable you to configure your system
as a server, and to choose other system settings.
Desktop environment preferences
The desktop environment contains dedicated preference tools. Each tool controls a particular part of the behavior of the
desktop environment. To start a preference tool, choose Applications -> Desktop Preferences. Choose the item that you want to configure from the submenus.
The most powerful features of the desktop environment are the high degree
of configurability and the multiple ways that you can perform tasks.
The desktop environment provides interoperability of the desktop environment
components. Usually, you can perform the same action in several different
ways. For example, you can start applications from panels, from menus, or
from the desktop.
Your system administrator can make configuration changes to suit your
needs, so that the desktop environment might not be exactly the same as described
in this chapter. Nevertheless, this chapter provides a useful quick guide
to how to work with the desktop environment.
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