The Panel

The desktop is a handy place to launch applications and store shortcuts. One problem with the desktop is that when you launch an application it becomes fully or partially blocked. To get around this problem you can make use of the Panel, which is the bar found at the bottom of the desktop. What's nice about the Panel is that, regardless of the number of programs you have running, it always remains visible. This makes it a handy tool for managing the programs you are running. The Panel is actually made up of four different parts .

  • Launch button . The Launch button gives you access to all of the programs on your computer. From the Launch button you can launch applications, run utilities, configure your computer, or shut down the system.

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  • Quick Launch Bar . The Quick Launch Bar allows you to start programs by clicking on their appropriate button. Since it is never hidden you always have access to these programs.

  • Taskbar . Whenever a program is running, an icon representing that program shows up in the Taskbar. The Taskbar can also be used to close, minimize, maximize, and restore programs.

  • System Tray . The System Tray allows you to not only control your virtual desktops but also to configure parts of your computer including time, date, and speaker volume.

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Panel Size and Position

By default the Panel appears at the bottom of the screen, but if you prefer, it can be moved or resized to fit your personal preference.

  1. Right-click on any blank area of the Taskbar . A menu will appear.

  2. Click on the Preferences option . The Settings dialog box will open , in which you can adjust settings for the Panel.

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  3. Click on the desired options to change the Location, Alignment, or Size of the Panel.

  4. Click on the Apply button to preview the changes that you have made.

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    1. Click on the OK button if you are satisfied with the changes.

      OR

    2. Click on the Cancel button if you don't want to apply the changes.

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The System Tray

The System Tray is actually made up of two parts. One part allows you to control the basic configuration of your computer, including things like setting the volume of your speakers or setting the clock, while the other deals with virtual desktops.

Virtual Desktops

Because the desktop is such an important element of the computer, the clever people at Lindows decided to include the Virtual Desktops feature (the credit here should really go to the people who developed the KDE environment on which Lindows is built, but that's another story). How Virtual Desktops works is, instead of having just one desktop, you can create up to sixteen different desktops. Why in the world would you need sixteen desktops? There are many reasons, including uncluttering desktops filled with shortcuts, running different programs on different desktops (e.g., while you are installing a program on one desktop, you can be working in a word processor on the other), sharing the computer (each person can have their own desktop), or organizing your programs with the different desktops (e.g., games on one desktop, videos on another, etc.).

Setting Up Virtual Desktops

By default there is just one desktop set up for you when you first install Lindows. If you want to take full advantage of the virtual desktop features, you can set up a total of sixteen different desktops.

  1. Right-click on any blank area of the desktop. A menu will appear.

  2. Click on the Configure Desktop option. The Settings dialog box will open, allowing you to configure different elements of your desktop.

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  3. Click on the Number of Desktops tab . This will bring you to the area where you can control the number of virtual desktops you'd like to set up.

  4. Position your mouse pointer over the slider bar.

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  5. Click and drag to the right . As you drag, the number of desktops will increase, up to a maximum of sixteen. You can drag to the right or left to increase or decrease the number of virtual desktops.

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  6. Enter a Name for all or any of the virtual desktops you've set up. This step is optional, but it will make it easier to keep track of your desktops if you give them a name.

  7. Click on the OK button to finalize the setup of your virtual desktops.

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Accessing Virtual Desktops

So you've got all of these wonderful virtual desktops set up, but now you need to figure out how to get from one to the other. Getting around to your different desktops is as easy as a couple of clicks of your mouse, but you'll first need to set up an applet to toggle between desktops.

  1. Right-click on any empty area on the Taskbar. A menu will appear.

  2. Click on the Add option.

  3. Click on the Applet option.

  4. Click on the Pager option. A series of buttons , representing each of your desktops will appear on your Taskbar.

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    Note  

    The Pager option is a mini program that can create a series of buttons on your Taskbar. Each button represents a different desktop. By clicking on one of these buttons, you can toggle between the different desktops you've created.

  5. Click on the desired desktop number to toggle between different desktops.

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Deleting Virtual Desktops

It's just as easy to get rid of desktops as it was to create them. All you have to do is access the Configure Desktop dialog box where you can quickly reduce the number of virtual desktops.

  1. Right-click on any blank area of the desktop. A menu will appear.

  2. Click on the Configure Desktop option. The Settings dialog box will open, allowing you to configure different elements of your desktop.

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  3. Click on the Number of Desktops tab . This will bring you to the area where you can control the number of virtual desktops you'd like to set up.

  4. Position your mouse pointer over the slider bar.

  5. Click and drag to the left to reduce the number of virtual desktops.

  6. Click on the OK button to finalize. The changes will be reflected in your Pager applet on the Taskbar.

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Setting Your Computer Clock

If you're anything like me, somewhere in your house is an appliance that is flashing zeros rather than displaying the proper time. Why? Because those sadistic people working at those appliance companies make it so darn hard to set the clock. Not the case with Lindows. The friendly people at Lindows, however, allow you to set your clock in just a couple of easy steps.

  1. Right-click on the clock in the System Tray. A menu will appear.

  2. Click on the Adjust Date & Time option. The Date & Time dialog box will open, letting you change the date and time.

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  3. Make any changes to the date or time. Your options include

    • Month . Click on the down arrow beside the month to view a list of all the months that you can then select.

    • Year . Click on the up or down arrow to select the year.

    • Day . Click on the day of the month.

    • Time . Click in the Hour, Minute, or Second boxes and enter the desired time.

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    • Time Zone . Click on the down arrow to view a list of time zones that you can select from.

  4. Click on the OK button to accept the changes that you've made.

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Adjusting Your System Volume

Like to listen to your music loud? Although most applications that play music or videos allow you to adjust the volume within the program, you can set the master volume level for the computer from the System Tray.

  1. Click on the Volume icon . A volume bar will appear.

  2. Click and drag up or down on the volume bar to adjust the volume.

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The Quick Launch Bar

The Quick Launch Bar allows you to launch programs with a single click of the mouse button. Unlike icons on your desktop, the Quick Launch Bar is never hidden, so you can always access any application on that bar. When you first run Lindows, there are several icons in your Quick Launch Bar.

  • File Manager. Clicking on this will launch the File Manager where you can manage the files and folders on your computer.

  • Click-N-Run. Click-N-Run is a subscription software service that allows you to download hundreds of programs for your Lindows computer.

  • Web Browser. This will launch your default Internet browser, Netscape Navigator, so that you can surf the Web.

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  • Netscape Mail. This will launch the default e-mail program, Netscape Mail.

  • Netscape Instant Messenger. This programs allows you to instantly page and chat with people on other computers.

  • Show Desktop. Regardless of how many programs you have open, clicking on Show Desktop will minimize them all so that you can see the contents of your desktop.

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Adding Programs to the Quick Launch Bar

You can add any program on your computer to the Quick Launch Bar.

  1. Right - click on any icon on the Quick Launch Bar. A menu will appear.

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  2. Click on Panel and a submenu will appear.

  3. Click on Add to bring up another submenu.

  4. Click on Button to bring up yet another submenu.

  5. Click on Programs . A list of categories will appear.

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  6. Click on the desired category of the program you'd like to add to the Quick Launch Bar.

  7. Click on the desired program. A new icon representing that program will appear on the Panel.

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Moving an Icon on the Panel

Once you've created an icon for the Quick Launch Bar, you may want to move it to be positioned with the other programs.

  1. Right - click on the icon that you'd like to move. A menu will appear.

  2. Select Move . As you move your mouse pointer from left to right, the icon will move with it.

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  3. Click once, and the icon will be in its desired location.

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Removing Programs from the Quick Launch Bar

Taking programs off of the Quick Launch Bar is as easy as adding them.

  1. Right - click on the icon that you want to remove. A menu will appear.

  2. Click on Remove , and the icon will be gone.

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Removing the Pager Applet

If you are using only one desktop, or if you don't have the need to toggle between different desktops, you can remove the Pager applet to free up room on your Taskbar.

  1. Right-click on any empty area on the Taskbar. A menu will appear.

  2. Click on the Remove option.

  3. Click on the Applet option.

  4. Click on the Pager option. The Pager applet will be removed from your Taskbar.

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Running Applications on All Desktops

Let's say you've got an important application that you'd like to have available on all of the desktops. Rather than having to individually create shortcuts, Lindows gives you a way to "tack" an application or a shortcut so that it appears on every desktop. Alternatively, you can also move running programs from one desktop to another with ease.

  1. Click on the Menu arrow in any open application.

  2. Click on the To Desktop option.

    1. Click on the All Desktops option to have your application appear in any of your virtual desktops.

      OR

    2. Click on any Virtual Desktop to send that application to a specific desktop.

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Changing the Desktop Background

One way to personalize the look of your computer is to customize the background. By default when you install Lindows a standard background appears, but you can easily customize it to be a solid color or an image of your choice. If you've set up virtual desktops, each desktop can be customized with a different background. The background can include either a color pattern or a photo.

Changing the Background Colors

You can choose up to two different background colors for each of your desktops that can be blended in a variety of ways.

  1. Right-click on any blank area of the desktop. A menu will appear.

  2. Click on the Configure Desktop option. The Settings dialog box will open, allowing you to configure different elements of your desktop.

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  3. Click on the Background icon . This will bring you to the area where you can control the look of your desktops.

  4. Click on the desktop whose background you would like to change. Each one of your virtual desktops is represented in this box.

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  5. Change the desired options for the background. These options include

    • Mode. The mode allows you to change how colors will appear on your background. You can choose from several blending options by clicking on the down arrow.

    • Color 1 and Color 2. By clicking on the colored box, you can choose any color for the background.

  6. Click on OK to finalize the changes.

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    Note  

    The preview window will show you what your new background will look like.

Changing the Background Image

Rather than just having two simple colors for your background, you can enhance the appearance of your desktop(s) by inserting an image. The image can be one of the preset ones that come with Lindows, or you can choose any of your own images.

  1. Right-click on any blank area of the desktop. A menu will appear.

  2. Click on the Configure Desktop option. The Settings dialog box will open, allowing you to configure different elements of your desktop.

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  3. Click on the Background icon . This will bring you to the area where you can control the look of your desktops.

  4. Click on the desktop whose background you would like to change. Each one of your virtual desktops is represented in this box.

  5. Click on the Wallpaper tab . You will now have several options for choosing an image for your desktop.

  6. Click on the Single Wallpaper option if it is not already selected.

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  7. Click on the Wallpaper drop-down arrow. This will display a list of backgrounds that come with Lindows.

  8. Click on the desired wallpaper . A preview of the wallpaper will appear in the window.

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  9. Click on the OK button to finalize the background changes.

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Changing the Screensaver

Originally, screensavers were designed to prevent computer monitors from phosphor burn-in. If the same image was being displayed in early monitors for a long time, the image would discolor the glass so that a faint overlay could always be seen, even if something else was being shown on the monitor. With modern monitors , screensavers aren't really necessary, but they provide an interesting way to personalize your computer.

  1. Right-click on any blank area of the desktop. A menu will appear.

  2. Click on the Configure Desktop option. The Settings dialog box will open, allowing you to configure different elements of your desktop.

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  3. Click on the Screensaver icon to open up the screensaver options.

  4. Click on the desired screensaver. A preview of the screensaver you selected will appear in the window.

  5. Click in the Wait for box to determine how long the computer waits to start the screensaver.

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  6. Click on the up or down arrow to increase or decrease the wait time.

  7. Click on the OK button to finalize the changes.

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Applying Themes

A theme is a collection of colors, fonts, graphics, backgrounds, bullet characters , and styles that fit together to give a common look to your computer. There are several different built-in themes that you can choose from in Lindows, but there are literally thousands of different themes that can be downloaded from the Web.

  1. Click on the Launch button . The Launch menu of options will appear.

  2. Click on Settings and another submenu will appear.

  3. Click on Look & Feel to open yet another submenu.

  4. Click on Theme Manager . The Theme Manager dialog box will open, allowing you to change themes.

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  5. Click on the desired theme . A preview of the theme will appear in the preview window.

  6. Click on the OK button , and the new theme will be applied.

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Lindows Fast & Easy
Lindows Fast & Easy (Fast & Easy (Premier Press))
ISBN: 1592000606
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 152

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