Chapter – 7 Introduction to Ubuntu Linux GUI

GNOME2 Desktop Open source software is all about freedom and choices. Linux is no exception. It provides multiple choices for most components of the operating system. The desktop manager or simply the desktop is no exception. Linux provides several desktop managers, including GNOME, KDE, Unity, Xfce, LXDE, and many more. While the first three desktops require more powerful systems with better graphics capability, the last two desktops are light-weight and can run even on quite low-end machines.

The last option in the Me Menu allows you to register the computer that you use with Canonical’s free cloud

Ubuntu One also provides an online music store (currently not available in India) and the facility of instantly uploading and sharing photographs taken using an Android phone with friends and relatives. Ubuntu One can be accessed from computers running Ubuntu, some other Linux/Unix operating systems and Microsoft Windows as well as Android and iOS mobile phones. The free account provides 5GB of storage. Additional storage, if needed, can be purchased.

By default there are four workspaces in Ubuntu. The four workspaces are arranged in a 1 x 4 grid. It even tries to show how many and which windows are open in which workspace in such a small area. We may switch to any of the workspaces by clicking on its mini representation in the workspace switcher. We may also use the shortcut keys CTRL-ALT arrow keys to switch between the workspaces.

The Desktop :- The desktop is the entire area between the top and bottom panels. A background picture is displayed on it. Any other item the user puts on the desktop will be placed in front of the background, obscuring that much portion of the background. Initially the desktop is empty, but the user may place frequently used files, directories as well as application launchers on the desktop for quick access.

The Visual Effects tab has three levels of special effects to choose from – None, Normal and Extra (in increasing order of visual eye-candy provided). The default is none. Setting a higher level enables a wide range of 2D and 3D visual effects.

GNOME2 desktop. We saw how to use the three major components of GNOME2 that is the top panel, the desktop and the bottom panel. We looked at the list of built-in software available under the Applications menu. We also learnt the use of the Places menu and the options available under the System menu. Finally we saw how to customize the appearance of the GNOME2 Desktop.