I am new to Linux, having come from Windows XP Pro.

I installed MEPIS Linux because it was easy

I am running KDE 3.2.3

I like the list of most used applications, I always had about 7 on my start menu in XP and rarely had to reach for the full menus. One feature that appears to be lacking in KDE is the ability to specify applications that should not be listed here. For instance in XP I could right-click somthing like notepad on my start menu and select 'Don't show in most used applications'. I can't figure how to do this in KDE.

If you want to know how to make Linux just like MSWinXP, you are out of luck.

If you want to know how to quickly access you favorite applications in KDE, then you need to drag them to the panel at the bottom of the screen.

in the control center, under panels -> hiding, you can select how KDE behaves with your most recently launched programs, etc ,etc. That should be the basics of what your looking for.