Quote:
Originally Posted by SaintDanBert
Disclaimer -- I've tried getting help in the Mint forum{s/a/ae} without success. I hope that my LQ friends can help me.
When I login to Mint-12, I see a plain desktop.
If I fly my mouse off the top left corner, the screen goes grey{gray}
... any open app windows shrink into an oversized thumbnail of sorts...
and a tool bar appears along the left edge.
Which part of the gnome/... whatever .../mate world
is this? How do I configure this part of the desktop?
In the lower left corner is a gear-outline button labeled Menu.
If I select it, I get three columns of icons. - The left-most column is the same bunch that appears in the toolbar of the grey desktop. They have no labels.
- The middle column has icons and labels. These seem to be "categories" of applications.
- At the bottom of the middle column is a folder icon labeled "Places". It opens a list of folders in the right-most column.
Contents include Documents, Pictures, etc.
- The right-most column has icons and labels. These seem to be application launchers for the currently selected category from the middle column.
Can someone explain how to configure "favorites" or similar "recently used" applications for easy selection during future sessions?
It seems that Mint-12 has three or four parts to its desktop experience. Can someone tell me where each of these parts start and end and how to configure each? (I mostly like what they have done with Mint-12, but I'm disappointed at how little is known about how an end-user configures things.)
Thanks in advance,
~~~ 8d;-/ Dan
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Linux Mint 12 comes with a controversial desktop known as Gnome Unity. It has limited options for configuring itself, even less then the older regular Gnome does.
IMHO, the best thing to do is to go back to the Mint website and download one of the other versions of Mint even if they are older. They have a KDE version and a LXDE version. I would try with one of those.
When running the install media, you can do a clean install. This is best if you have no critical data or backed up your data already. I'm not sure if the option to upgrade or repair will appear. If it does, your data will be preserved while you will get a more user friendly environment. Xfce is also offered, but it seems to be a little more buggy then LXDE.
KDE is a fully featured desktop. LXDE is a lightweight desktop as is Xfce. If you have a powerful system, KDE is your best choice. If your system is older or uses a Sampron or Celeron processor or is a netbook, try LXDE. You can always add other desktops later and then switch between them.
Another option is to use Gnome Unity to get to the add/remove software application. Once there, download and install another desktop. If you go this route, Gnome Unity will always be your default desktop. You will have a menu button with a drop down arrow. This will simply say Gnome. Click on it with your mouse and choose another desktop, which will be whatever you installed. You can download and install multiple other desktops or even KDE, LXDE and Xfce all at once. I have all options to choose from on my system and they seem to have no negative impact on stability.
Mint 12
