Chapter 3. Tour of the GNOME desktop
This chapter introduces the GNOME desktop in Fedora. The desktop becomes easier to use after you know some of the common terminology used, beginning with the GNOME desktop.
When you first log in to The GNOME Desktop, you see two distinct areas:
A third area can be accessed by clicking the button, or by moving the mouse to the top left hand Hot Corner. Alternatively, you can press the super key, sometimes called thewindows key, on your keyboard. The area that appears is called the Activities overview.
This bar stretches across the top of the screen. The left side contains:
In the center of the top bar is a clock.
The right side of the top bar is home to:
the Universal Access menu.
the Volume Control and Sound Preferences applet.
the Bluetooth Manager applet (if your computer has Bluetooth connectivity).
the Network Manager applet.
the Power Manager applet (if your computer has a battery).
the User Menu (showing your name).
3.1.1.1. Clock and calendar
Click the clock in the center of the top bar to see the current date, a month-by-month calendar, and a list of your upcoming appointments. You can also access the date and time settings and view your Evolution or Google calendars directly from the menu.
The volume control allows you to quickly change the overall volume of sound on your computer. Click the icon to show a slider, and then use the mouse to drag the slider to the desired volume. Click on Sound Settings to change settings for sound input and output devices and system sounds.
3.1.1.4. Bluetooth Manager applet
If your computer has Bluetooth connectivity using either an internal or external Bluetooth adaptor, the Bluetooth Manager applet will appear in the top bar. Click on the applet to switch the Bluetooth adapter on or off, connect to a new Bluetooth device, or send files over Bluetooth. Click Bluetooth Settings for more options.
3.1.1.5. Network Manager applet
The Network Manager applet allows you to quickly connect and disconnect from available networks, both wired and wireless. Left click on the applet to see what connections are enabled or available. You can switch network devices on or off by clicking on the toggle button. Click on the name of a wireless network to connect to it. Click on
Network Settings to see more information and preferences. See
Chapter 7, Connecting to the Internet for more information.
3.1.1.6. Power Manager applet
If your computer has a battery, the Power Manager applet will appear in the top bar. This applet displays information regarding the status of your battery: whether it is on AC power or not, whether it is charging or not, and how much charge is remaining.
Click on the applet to see the remaining charge as a percentage. If you are running on battery power, you will also see an estimate of how much time is remaining before your battery runs out of charge. Click on Power Settings to change power management settings for your computer.
The Power Manager applet is not normally displayed if your computer does not have a battery.
The default desktop area, or workspace, is where the windows of currently active windows are normally displayed.
You can switch between active applications by using the keyboard shortcut Alt+Tab. The application switcher appears showing icons of active applications. Alt+Tab will cycle through the applications from left to right, while Shift+Alt+Tab will cycle from right to left. If an active application has more than one window open, you can also use Alt+` and Shift+Alt+` to cycle through the windows, where ` is the key above the Tab key on your keyboard.
You can also add more workspaces and cycle between them using Control+Alt+Up and Control+Alt+Down. You can move an active window to another workspace by using Control+Shift+Alt+Up or Control+Shift+Alt+Down. If no workspace exists below the current one, a new one is created automatically.
3.1.3. The Activities Overview
The Activities overview can be accessed by clicking the
Activities button, by moving the mouse to the top left hand
Hot Corner, or by pressing the
windows key on your keyboard. The overview has several features to help you manage applications, files, windows and workspaces:
The dash is the bar on the left hand edge of the overview. It displays the icons of favorite and active applications. Left-clicking on any icon in the list launches that application, or bring up the most recently used window if it is already running. Right-click to choose between the application's available windows.
The central area of the overview initially displays live thumbnails of all windows in the current workspace. Click any window to focus that window and exit the overview, or close the window by clicking on the X in the top right corner. You can also zoom in on any window by using the scroll wheel on your mouse. You can click and drag windows to and from workspaces, which are displayed in a bar on the right.
Click Applications above the window overview to switch to the application overview. The icons of all currently installed applications are displayed. Left-click on an application's icon to open it. Right-click to switch to a currently open window, open a new window, or add the application to your favorites on the dash. All of your applications are displayed in alphabetical order, but you can click on different categories listed on the right to help you find the application you want.
You can search for applications, devices, bookmarked folders, and recently opened files by clicking on the search bar in the top right corner, or simply by beginning to type. Items matching the search term appear in the main area. You can also click on the buttons at the bottom of the overview to search for the term using Wikipedia or Google in the default web browser.
You can leave the Activities overview at any time by clicking on a window or application icon to focus it. You can also press the left super key, also known as the logo key, which returns you to the last focused window on the current workspace. On most keyboards, the super key is labeled with an operating system logo.
3.1.4. Notifications and The Messaging Tray
Notifications of important events, such as new emails and chat messages or low battery warnings, pop up at the bottom center of the screen. A single line is displayed, but moving the mouse over it reveals more information if it is available. Most applications allow you to switch their notifications on or off, and you can suppress non-critical notifications by setting your availability status to Busy.
The Messaging Tray can be viewed by moving the mouse to the bottom right hand corner of the screen. Notifications you have not responded to yet are stored here, displayed using the application's icon or a chat contact's avatar. Left-click on the icon to display the notification, and right-click to open the application or remove the notification. The Messaging Tray is always visible in the Activities overview.
In many cases it is possible to respond to a notification directly from the notification itself, without having to go to the application. For example, it is possible to reply to chat messages directly from their notifications, both when the notification first pops up and when it resides in the Messaging Tray.
