After setting up KDE using the wizard, your default desktop will
look similar to Figure 3-3.
The KDE desktop displays application launchers, document windows,
file folders, and so on. You can also access the main menu and configure
the desktop to suit your needs.
The long bar across the bottom of the desktop is the
panel. The panel contains application launchers,
status indicators, and the desktop manager. You can have up to 16
desktops running at the same time in KDE. The panel taskbar shows your
currently running applications.
Icons located on the desktop can be files, folders, device links, or
application launchers. Click on an icon to open the associated
resource.
The KDE desktop works similarly to other graphical desktop
environments. You can drag and drop files and application icons to any
location on the desktop. You can also add new icons for all types of
applications and resources to the desktop, panel, or file manager. The
desktop itself is also highly customizable. You can change the
appearance of buttons, window and frame decorations, and backgrounds
easily. Configuration tools are also available which allow you to
customize the way the desktop behaves at events such as single- and
double-clicking mouse buttons and combining (also called
chording) keystrokes to create time-saving
shortcuts.
The default KDE desktop displays icons for the trash can, your
home directory, the KDE Control Panel, and a
link to the Red Hat website. You can access any one of these resources by
clicking on the associated icon.
When you right-click on these icons, you will see several options
for working with these resources, such as
, and
.
You can drag and drop unwanted items such as files you no longer
need to the Trash icon. Right-click on the trashcan
and select to delete the items from
your system permanently.
