F8 User Guide

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Desktops
• Logging into the Desktop
• Tour of the GNOME Desktop
• Tour of the KDE Desktop
• Tour of the Xfce Desktop
• Using Media
• Connecting to Internet
• Accessing the Web
• Communications (Email, IM)
• Office Tools
• Financial Software
• Playing Multimedia (Music & Video)
• Playing Games
• Managing Photos
• Sharing Your Desktop
• Customizing the Desktop
• Managing Software With Pirut
• Updating Software With Pup

Single-Page Version of the User Guide

Summary of Sections

Introduction

• Purpose of this Guide

Desktops

• GNOME
• KDE
• Xfce

Logging into the Desktop

• Entering your Username and Password

Tour of the GNOME Desktop

• First View of the GNOME Desktop
• The GNOME Menu Panel
• The GNOME Desktop Area
• The GNOME Window List Area

Tour of the KDE Desktop

• First View of the KDE Desktop
• The KDE Menu Panel
• The KDE Desktop Area
• The KDE Window List Area

Tour of the Xfce Desktop

• First View of the Xfce Desktop
• The Xfce Menu Panel
• The Xfce Desktop Area
• The Xfce Window List Area

Using Media

• Understanding Media
• Exploring Media
• Writing CDs or DVDs
• Using a USB Drive

Accessing the Web

• Browsing the World Wide Web

Communications

• Understanding Communications
• Setting up Email
• Setting up Instant Messaging

Office Tools

• Using OpenOffice

Playing Multimedia

• Playing Audio
• Viewing Video

Playing Games

• Wasting Time

Managing Photos

• Importing photos
• Organizing photos

Sharing Your Desktop

• Getting Assistance

Customizing the Desktop

• Customizing the Menu Panel
• Changing the Background
• Changing the Desktop Theme
• Changing File Browsing Behavior

Documentation Summary

Purpose: How to accomplish specific tasks with the desktop applications in Fedora 8. This requires a major expansion of the content beyond the GNOME desktop to include KDE and Xfce. Other packages for common functions may also be considered, such as Thunderbird for e-mail.

Audience: Individuals who are unfamiliar with the default Fedora Desktop and who may be running their first Linux desktop.

Approach: This document explains basic principles by explaining one principle at a time. The document does not assume familiarity with any Linux/UNIX-specific terminology or concepts. Functionality is also compared, where appropriate, to what the reader may know from other OSes, particularly Microsoft Windows.

Assumptions: The reader has a standard Desktop class installation of Fedora with, including a user account with the default settings. The reader does have access to the root password. (We changed this "non-root access" assumption so that we can include more coverage of regular software updates and the installation of alternate packages and desktops.)

Related Documents: The AdministrationGuide further documents detailed tasks that require root access. The GettingStartedGuide is a general introduction to using Fedora. Each desktop application has integrated Help, so the scope of this document may need to be considered carefully.

Lead Writer: JohnBabich

Writers: MattBird, CodyDeHaan , DamienDurand, JonathanRoberts, MarcWiriadisastra, DanOBrien , PaulWFrields

All Contributors

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