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To access the contents, click the chapter and section titles.
Complete Idiot's Guide to Linux
The DesktopThe desktop is the colored area between the taskbar and the panel. Individual program windows float above it. Under KDE you have several desktops. You control which desktop you are in by clicking on the buttons in the panel labeled One, Two, Three, and Four. Another way to switch among desktops is to middle-click an empty area on the desktop. Doing so will display a menu that allows you to switch among desktops and applications. The desktop can be used as a temporary location to place files and other things you are currently working on. ApplicationsApplications are programs that present information in a window that you can open or close from your desktop. KEdit, the application pictured in the following figure, is a simple text editor you can use for editing files. To launch KEdit, you just click its icon on the panel.
KEdit, like most applications, has menus. Menus are located directly below the applications title bar. (KEdits menus include File, Edit, Options, and Help.) Menus list commands that you can choose to make the application do something. Using the MouseThe cursor is usually a small black arrow that moves when you move the mouse. You use the cursor to point at objects. The appearance of the cursor will change depending on what you are pointing at. Other variations of the cursor include:
Other inhabitants of your desktop are icons. Icons are a graphic representation of files, applications, or other things that live in your computer. You can do almost everything on your computer using your mouse, with the exception of typing text. The mouse controls the location of the cursor. You slide the mouse to point at an object on the screen. If you run out of room while sliding the mouse, you can just pick it up and put it back down somewhere else on the mouse pad; the cursor wont move while the mouse is in the air. No matter how far you move the mouse, the cursor will stay on the screen. Basic Mouse ActionsWhen you get the mouse to point at something, an icon or a word, you use the mouse button to perform one of these actions:
Buttons, Menus, and Text FieldsThe basic controls of a modern UI can be grouped into three categories:
ButtonsButtons often are in application windows to give you easy access to certain commands. Buttons come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They are usually labeled with text and graphics indicating what they do. To activate a button, you click on it. If the button is just an image, when you move the cursor over it, the button might draw a border around itself to let you know that it is indeed a button and that you can click it. If you hover over a button for a while, the button might display a tool tip telling you what the button does. Dimmed buttons are not active and cannot be clicked. (Well, you could click them, but nothing will happen.) Buttons appear dimmed either because their functionality is unavailable or their function is not applicable at the moment.
If after you start clicking a button, you decide you dont want to click it after all, just move the cursor off the button before releasing the mouse. Some buttons, called check boxes, allow you to enable multiple options available to your application. Check boxes under X Windows are rendered as squares.
Other buttons, known as radio buttons, allow you to enable only a single option in the group. Clicking on a different option disables the previously selected option as it enables the new one. Radio buttons under X Windows are rendered as diamonds.
Tabs are another kind of button. They allow an application to group and display information and controls in a limited amount of space. By clicking on a tab, you reveal a different set of controls and information.
Sliders are used to set a value that is in a range. To use the slider, drag its knob to the desired value or position.
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