i can't find the desk top switching tool
 

i have upgraded to FC4 but i can't find the tool for swaping between KDE and GNOME.
please help
TTFN

I don't use FC4, but normally you just log out of the session you're in and log back into a new session after first selecting the session type from the menu.

I'm not offered the option of which desktop to boot into.
 

I'm not offered the option of which desktop to boot into.
It always boots straight into GNOME.
I have installed both environments so how do i switch between them?

there's a command in fc3 (which i imagine is in fc4?...) called switchdesk which lists all the available desktop managers and allows you to change to another desktop environment.

It depends which boot manager you're using - xdm, kdm and gdm are all slightly different (and you can use the KDE desktop manager even if you're only booting into GNOME). Normally, though, there's some kind of options or session options menu that gives you the choice between installed WMs and usually a 'last session' option.

Sorry I can't be more informative and give screenshots or something!

This is very simple.
create a .xinitrc(in your home dir) and put "exec <yourwindowmanagerhere>" in it then just run startx and wolla!

example in .xinitrc(provided startxfce4 in in your path):
exec startxfce4

The problem with that approach is that it doesn't work too well with desktop managers; and they're deservedly popular with most users these days. Still, if you do tend to 'live' in the CLI and use startx to jump in and out of an X session it's the best way to do it.

You can also create a .xsession file that does basically the same thing - I guess it's like .bashrc and .bash_profile, which are very similar.

For the curious, lines in the .xinitrc and .xsession files are executed automatically after X has started, as if you typed them into a terminal, so they're a handy place to put applications that you'd like to start automatically, if your WM doesn't have a more convenient way of doing this.