Using Linux

Now that you have taken the leap and installed Linux on your computer, it is time to take it for a spin to see what it can do.

The main problem a Linux convert will experience is not what you may think. It is not difficult to install, nor complicated to use. Once your new system is installed, your biggest problem will be the seemingly unlimited number of choices Linux allows the user to have. There are tens-of-thousands of free applications you can readily download and run on your Linux desktop. You can configure your desktop windows to behave in various ways, and/or appear in a multitude of various color combinations, and frame borders. First however, you need to decide on a desktop manager.

Most Linux distributions use the Gnome desktop manager as the default window interface, though some, such as SUSE utilize KDE as the default manager. The screenshot you see with this article is a Linux desktop using Gnome. You have a number of choices when it comes to desktop managers, but Gnome and KDE are the most popular. Gnome is the more "Windows PC" friendly of the two, while KDE should appeal to users coming from Macintosh systems. Once you decide on a desktop manager, the next step will be setting it up in a way that is useful to your needs.

The first thing you should do is right-click on your screen, and choose "Change Desktop Background" at the bottom of the list. This will not only allow you to change the background, but will also allow you to configure the windows used to run your applications. Clicking on the "Theme" tab brings up a number of pre-set window options. Choose the "Customize" button at the bottom, and you can design a window theme anytime you feel the need for a change. You can configure border styles and colors, interface background and text colors. You can also change your icons and pointers. If the included choices are not enough for you, travel over to art.gnome.org, where you can find even more ways to configure your Gnome desktop interface.

The last tab on the "Visual Effects" box is the most fun to play with. "Visual Effects" allows you to control different effects your applications windows can use as they open and close. You can also change how windows move around the screen, as well as how your screen changes from desktop to desktop. There is a caveat with "Visual Effects," however. You need a fairly robust graphic card to take full advantage of this feature. This generally means that your computer utilizes a stand alone graphic's card, though some recent integrated graphic subsystems will work.

We mentioned above that you can move from desktop to desktop. The virtual desktop manager is perhaps the most important tool in Linux. It is the main reason I began migrating over to Linux a few years ago. An average day will find me using a minimum of three web browsers, two email clients, an app to keep track of social networking, a music library/player app, a web programming app, a file manager, along with other projects that arise as the day goes on. If I had to open these in one window, you can only imagine how cluttered my taskbar would get. Enter virtual desktops.

Virtual desktops allows me to switch among desktop interfaces. Thus, I can have one application window open on a single desktop, while other application windows inhabit other desktop spaces. You can choose the number of virtual desktops you prefer. For me, sixteen usually does the trick. You can have more or less.

You may also notice that the desktop switcher on my computer sits on a panel at the top of the screen. This is another useful aspect of using Linux as your desktop operating system. You are not limited to only one panel. You can conceivably have as many panels as you desire; Linux will not limit you, though more than three panels greatly restricts screen real estate. The sidebar you see off to the right of my desktop is not a panel, but Google Gadgets. You can choose from hundreds of widgets to keep you up to date on any information you may need at your fingertips.

If you would like to test Linux, feel free. Most mainstream distributions allow you run Linux over top of your Windows or Mac desktop without technically installing it. Try it out for a few weeks, get the feel of it, and then make the decision if Linux is right for you. For more information on how to use a "Live CD," refer to our previous tutorial, "Installing Linux."

The most popular mainstream distribution, and the easiest to install is Ubuntu, though many other versions or "flavors" of Linux are freely available. Open Suse, Fedora, Mandriva and CentOS are but a few of the more popular choices. Linux Mint, which is an off-shoot of Ubuntu is starting to gain a sizable following. Again, you have an abundance of choices.

We urge you to try Linux out. If you don't like it, the only thing it will cost you is some time. Let's face it; isn't a few hours of time worth saving a couple of hundreds bucks. You be the judge.