All the instructions in this manual are for the following types of mouse devices:

The mouse button conventions used in this manual are as follows:

To reverse the handedness of your mouse device, open the , then select the options that you require. If you do reverse the handedness of your mouse device, then you must reverse the mouse button conventions used in this manual.

The following table describes the actions that you can perform with the mouse:

For example, if you want to copy text then perform the following steps:

You can also right-click on the desktop to open the Desktop menu.

The conventions used in this manual to describe actions that you take with the mouse are as follows:

As you use the mouse, the appearance of the mouse pointer can change. The appearance of the pointer can provide feedback about a particular operation, location, or state. The following table lists and describes some of the mouse pointers.

Pointer	Associated Action	Description
	Point to an item, choose a menu item	Normal pointer. The pointer that appears during normal use of the mouse.
	Drag-and-drop	Move pointer. Indicates that when you drop the object, the object is moved from the old location to the new location.
	Drag-and-drop	Copy pointer. Indicates that when you drop the object, a copy of the object is created where you drop the object.
	Drag-and-drop	Symbolic link pointer. Indicates that when you drop the object, a symbolic link to the object is created where you drop the object. A symbolic link is a special type of file that points to another file or folder.
	Drag-and-drop	Ask pointer. Indicates that when you drop the object, a menu opens. You can choose to move or copy the object, or to create a symbolic link to the object.
	Drag-and-drop	Not available pointer. Indicates that you cannot drop the object at the current location.
	Move panel object	Move panel object pointer. Indicates that you have selected a panel object to move.
	Resize window horizontally	Horizontal resize pointer. Indicates that you have selected a vertical window border to resize the window horizontally.
	Resize window vertically	Vertical resize pointer. Indicates that you have selected a horizontal window border to resize the window vertically.
	Resize window horizontally and vertically	Corner resize pointer. Indicates that you have selected a corner of a window border to resize the window horizontally and vertically.
	Resize window pane or resize table column	Window pane or table column resize pointer. Indicates that you have selected a column in a table to resize.

Desktop environment shortcut keys enable you to use the keyboard to perform desktop environment tasks. The following table lists some desktop environment shortcut keys:

Window shortcut keys enable you to use the keyboard to perform window tasks. The following table lists some window shortcut keys:

Panel shortcut keys enable you to use the keyboard to perform panel tasks. The following table lists panel shortcut keys:

Application shortcut keys enable you to perform application tasks. You can use shortcut keys to perform application tasks more quickly than if you use a mouse. The following table lists some application shortcut keys:

A menubar is a bar at the top of a window that contains the menus for the application. An access key is an underlined letter in a menubar, menu, or dialog that you can use to perform an action. On a menubar, the access key for each menu is underlined.

To open a menu, press Alt, then press the access key. In the menu, the access key for each menu item is underlined. To choose a menu item, press the access key for the menu item. The following table shows example access keys from the Text Editor application:

You can also use access keys to access elements in a dialog. In a dialog, one letter in most dialog elements is underlined. To access a particular dialog element, press Alt, then press the access key. The following table shows an example access key from the Preferences dialog in the Text Editor application:

You can use also other keys to navigate within a window or dialog.

Some windows contain more than one pane. A pane is a subdivision of a window. For example, the Nautilus file manager window contains a side pane and a view pane. A window that contains panes has a resize handle on the edge between the panes. To resize the pane, grab the resize handle, then drag the edge to the size you require.

Some windows contain information that is organized in a table. This section describes how to work with tables.

To change the width of a column, drag one of the vertical edges of the column.

In some tables, you can sort the information by a particular column. To sort information in a table, click on the heading on top of the column by which you want to sort the information. An up arrow is displayed in the column heading by which the table is sorted. The following figure shows the up arrow.

To reverse the sort order, click on the column heading again. The up arrow changes to a down arrow. The down arrow indicates that the information in the column is sorted in reverse order.

In some tables, you can select multiple items. The following table describes how to select items in tables.

To add a panel, right-click on a vacant space on any panel, then choose New Panel. The new panel is added to your desktop environment. The new panel contains no objects. You can customize the new panel to suit your preferences. You can add objects to the panel to fit your own requirements. You can also change the background of the panel. You can create as many panels as you want.

To delete a panel, right-click on the panel then choose Delete This Panel.

Panels can have hide buttons at each end of the panel. You click on the hide buttons to hide or show the panel.

A panel can hold several types of objects. The panel in Figure 2.2 contains each type of panel object.

Figure 2.2. A Panel With Various Panel Objects

You can add any of the following objects to all types of panels:

You can manipulate panel objects in the following ways:

The desktop environment features the following types of window:

You use the frame of an application window or dialog window to perform various actions with the window. Most of the control elements are located on the top edge of the window frame. Figure 2.3 shows the top edge of a frame for a typical application window.

Figure 2.3. Top Edge of Frame for a Typical Application Window

The active control elements of the window frame are as follows:

To change the size of windows grab the border of the window, but not the titlebar. Drag the border until the window is the size that you require.

A window that has focus can receive input from the mouse and the keyboard. Only one window can have focus at a time. The window that has focus has a different appearance than other windows.

You can use the following elements to give focus to a window:

You can switch between workspaces in the following ways:

To add workspaces to your desktop environment, right-click on the Workspace Switcher applet, then choose Preferences. The Workspace Switcher Preferences dialog is displayed. Use the Number of workspaces spin box to specify the number of workspaces that you require.

To navigate to the folder where the file that you want to open resides, double-click on the folder icons in the view pane. When the file that you want to open is displayed, double-click on the file icon to open the file.

You can move files between folders by opening two or more file manager windows. Open a different folder in each window, then drag the files from one window to the other.

To open an object from the desktop, double-click on the object. You can set your preferences in a Nautilus window so that you click once on an object to execute the default action.

You can add desktop objects for convenient access to files, folders, and applications that you use frequently. You can add objects to your desktop in the following ways:

You can find out more about particular desktop environment topics in the integrated Yelp help system. To start the Yelp help system, choose Applications->Help.

To find out more about a specific applet, right-click on the applet, then choose Help.

To find out more about a specific application, start the application, then choose Help->Contents. Alternatively, start the application then press F1.

To log in to a session, perform the following steps:

When you log in successfully, the session manager starts a session. If this is the first time you log in, then the session manager starts a new session. If you have logged in before, then the session manager restores your previous session, if you saved your session settings when you logged out.

If you want to shut down or restart the system before you log in, click on the System icon on the login screen. A dialog is displayed. Select the option that you require, then click OK.

To log in to a session in a different language, perform the following actions.

To set how a session behaves when you log in and log out, use Sessions preference tool. Make the changes you require in the Session Options tabbed section. For example, you can select to display a splash screen when you log in.

You can configure your sessions to start with applications that are not session-managed. To configure non-session-managed startup applications, use the Sessions preference tool. Use the Startup Programs tabbed section to add, edit, and delete applications. If you save your settings and log out, the next time that you log in, the startup applications start automatically.

To browse the applications in the current session, use the Sessions preference tool. The Current Session tabbed section lists the following:

You can use the Current Session tabbed section to perform a limited number of actions on the session properties of an application or preference tool. For example, you can edit the startup order, and restart style of any GNOME application or preference tool that is in the list.

To save your session settings, perform the following steps:

If you do not select the Automatically save changes to session option, when you log out, a dialog asks if you want to save your current settings. To save your settings, select the option, then continue to log out.

Figure 4.1 shows the panel at the top edge of the screen. Your system administrator might have set your default top edge panel according to your local requirements, so you might see a slightly different top edge panel.

Figure 4.1. Typical Top Edge Panel

The typical top edge panel contains the following objects:

Figure 4.2 shows a typical bottom edge panel. Your system administrator might have set your default bottom edge panel according to your local requirements, so you might see a slightly different bottom edge panel.

Figure 4.2. Typical Bottom Edge Panel

The bottom edge panel contains the following items:

To add a panel, right-click on a vacant space on any panel, then choose New Panel. The new panel is added to your desktop environment. The new panel contains no objects. You can customize the new panel to suit your preferences.

To interact with a panel, you must left-click, middle-click, or right-click on a vacant space on the panel. You can also middle-click or right-click on one of the hide buttons to select the panel, if the panel has no vacant space. If the hide buttons are not visible on a panel, modify the properties of the panel so that the hide buttons are visible.

You use the mouse buttons to interact with a panel in the following ways:

You can move panels to different locations. To move a panel, middle-click and hold on any vacant space on the panel, then drag the panel to the new location.

You can hide or show panels. To hide a panel, use a hide button. If the hide buttons are not visible on a panel, modify the panel properties so that the hide buttons are visible.

Hide buttons are at either end of a panel. The hide buttons contain an optional arrow icon. The following illustration shows hide buttons.

To hide a panel, click on one of the hide buttons. The panel reduces in the direction of the arrow on the hide button. The hide button at the other end of the panel remains visible.

To show a hidden panel again, click on the visible hide button. The panel expands in the direction of the arrow on the hide button. Both hide buttons are now visible.

You can set a panel to autohide. When you set autohide, the panel hides automatically when the mouse is not pointing to the panel. The panel reappears when you point to the part of the screen where the panel resides. To set your panel to autohide, modify the properties of the panel.

To modify preferences for all panels, use the Panel preference tool to make the changes that you require. For example, you can specify various settings related to the appearance and behavior of panel objects.

You can also modify properties for each individual panel. You can change the features for each panel, such as the type of the panel, the hide behavior, and the visual appearance.

To modify the properties of a panel perform the following steps: