Novell LINUX ENTERPRISE DESKTOP 11 - GNOME, SUSE LINUX ENTERPRISE DESKTOP 11 GNOME Getting Started Manual

SUSE® Linux Enterprise Desktop provides the tools that Linux* users require in their daily activities. It comes
with an easy-to-use graphical user interface, the GNOME* desktop, that communicates with the underlying
Linux system to let you access and manage les, folders, and programs. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop provides
an integrated suite of applications for a wide range of ofce, multimedia, and Internet activities. The OpenOf­ce.org suite, which allows you to edit and save les in a number of formats, is also included. The ofce suite
is available for several operating systems. Therefore, you can use the same data across different computing
platforms.

Getting Started

When you start your system, you are usually prompted to
enter your username and password. If someone else in­stalled your system, check with your system administrator
for your username and password.

After logging in to GNOME for the rst time, you see the
GNOME desktop, offering the following basic elements:

Desktop Icons

Access programs and features on your system by double­clicking an icon. Right-click an icon to get additional

menus and options. By default, the desktop features
several key icons, including your personal Home folder
and a trash can for deleted items. Other icons represent­ing devices on your computer, such as CD drives, might
also be present on the desktop and you can add as many
icons on your desktop as you want to. If you double-click
your Home folder, the Nautilus le manager starts and
displays the contents of your home directory.

Bottom Panel

The desktop includes a panel at the bottom of the
screen. This panel contains the Computer menu (similar
to the Start menu in Windows*), the system tray, and a
taskbar to display icons for all currently running applica­tions. You can also add applications and applets to the
panel for easy access.

Main Menu

Click Computer on the far left of the bottom panel to
open the main menu. Commonly used applications ap­pear in the main menu, along with recently used applica­tions. Click Documents to display your recent documents,
or click Places to display your favorite places (such as
your home directory or the desktop). Click More Appli-
cations to access additional applications listed in cate­gories. Use the options on the right to access help, install
additional software, open the GNOME Control Center,
lock your screen, log out of the desktop, or check the
status of your hard drive and network connections.

GNOME Quick Start

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11

NOVELL® QUICK START CARD

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System Tray

The right side of the bottom panel holds some smaller
icons, including the system clock that displays the date
and time, the volume control, and icons for several other
helper applications.

Taskbar

By default, all running applications are displayed in the
taskbar (the area in the middle of the panel between
the Computer button and the system tray). You can ac­cess any running application regardless of the currently
active desktop. Click an application name to open it.
Right-click an application name to see options for mov­ing, restoring, or minimizing the window.

Desktop Menu

Right-click an empty spot on the desktop to display a
menu with various options. Click Create Folder to create
a new folder. Use Create Launcher to create a launcher
icon for an application. Provide the name of the applica­tion and the command for starting it, then select an icon
to represent it. You can also change the desktop back­ground, open a terminal, create a document, and align
desktop icons.

Modifying Desktop Panels

The bottom panel can be customized to meet your individ­ual needs, and additional panels can be congured to fur­ther personalize your desktop.

To add a new panel, right-click a blank space in the bottom
panel and select New Panel. To delete a panel, right-click
a blank space in the panel and select Delete This Panel. SUSE
Linux Enterprise Desktop requires that at least one panel
be left on the desktop.

Adding and Removing Panel Icons

1. Right-click a blank space on the panel and select Add
to Panel.

2. Browse to the desired program and double-click it to
add it to the panel.

3. To remove a program icon from a panel, right-click its
icon in the panel and select Remove From Panel.

Starting Programs

To run a program in SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop, click
Computer on the panel to open the main menu screen. If
the program you want does not appear in the main menu
screen, click More Applications to view a list of all available
applications grouped in categories. You can also limit the
list to show only applications with a specic name by enter­ing the name or its part to the Filter eld. Click an entry in
the list to start the corresponding program.

You can also add an icon to your panel that opens a more
traditional version of the main menu. Right-click a blank
space on the panel, select Add to Panel, then double-click
Traditional Main Menu.

If you already know the name of an application but are not
sure how to start it from the main menu, use the Search
eld in the main menu. Click Computer, type a portion of
the application name in the Search eld, then press Enter.
If the application is installed on your system, the name of
the application appears in the Desktop Search dialog box.
Click the name to start the program.

Customizing Your Desktop

You can easily add, delete, and create shortcut icons on
your desktop. You can also change icon properties and the
desktop background to suit your needs.

Adding Program Icons to Your Desktop

1. Click Computer.

2. Browse to the desired program.

3. Click and drag the icon to the desktop and position it
as desired.

To delete an icon from your desktop, simply click the pro­gram icon and press the Delete key on your keyboard.

Changing the Desktop Background

1. Right-click the background.

2. Select Change Desktop Background.

3. To select a wallpaper from the preprogrammed images,
browse to and select the desired image. After you select
it, the background changes automatically.

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4. To add an image, select Add, browse to the desired
image, then click Open.

5. To display a colored background, select No Wallpaper
from the top of the list; then, from Colors, select the
ll pattern and the desired colors.

6. Click Close.

Using the GNOME Control Center

In addition to letting you change individual desktop ele­ments, GNOME lets you extensively personalize your desk­top. You can nd more settings to adjust the overall appear­ance and behavior of your desktop in the GNOME Control
Center. There, you can also change fonts, keyboard and
mouse congurations, regional and language settings, pa­rameters for your Internet and network usage, and more.

To start the Control Center, click Computer, then click
Control Center on the right of the main menu.

Conguring Desktop Effects

Compiz is a compositing window manager for the X Window
System that uses 3D graphics hardware to create fast com­positing desktop effects for window management. It lets
you turn your desktop into a rotating 3D cube, tile windows
so they do not overlap, and switch tasks while viewing live
thumbnails. You can enable translucent or transparent
windows, zoom in and out of the desktop screen, and use
other window effects such as shadows, fading, and transfor­mations. You can also congure windows to snap to other
windows and screen edges when they are moved.

To use compositing desktop effects, you need a graphics
adapter capable of providing 3D support with a appropriate
driver supporting 3D acceleration installed. 3D acceleration
must also be enabled. Use SaX2 to change your graphics
card and monitor properties if necessary. If the 3D acceler­ation works properly, compositing effects are enabled by
default.

To enable compositing desktop effects manually or to
congure the particular effects you want to see, click

Computer → More Applications → Utilities → Simple
CompizCong Settings Manager. There, you can congure

your desktop effects.

Managing Files and Folders

Use the Nautilus File Manager to create and view folders
and documents, run scripts, and create CDs of your data.
Open Nautilus by double-clicking your home directory icon
on the desktop. The contents of your home directory are
displayed.

The elements of the Nautilus window include the following:

Menu

Lets you perform most tasks.

Toolbar

Lets you quickly navigate among les and folders, and
provides access to les and folders.

Location Bar

Lets you locate les, folders, and URI sites.

Side Pane

Lets you navigate or display information about the select­ed le or folder. Use the drop-down list to customize
what is shown in the pane. The list includes ways to view
information about les, perform actions on les, add
emblems to les, view a history of recently visited sites,
and display your les in the tree system.

View Pane

Displays folders and les. Use the options on the View
menu to increase or decrease the size of content in the
view pane and to display items as a list or as icons.

Status Bar

Displays the number of items in a folder and gives the
available free space. When a le is selected, the status
bar displays the lename and size.

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