When you first install MATE, you'll be using its own layout, named Familiar. The Familiar layout, introduced in release 18.04, is based on the Traditional layout with the menu-bar (Applications, Places, System) replaced by the Brisk menu's simple " Menu ". The Familiar layout has a clock in the top right, and a panel with the list of open applications at the bottom. The menu for each application appears at the top of the application's window in the familiar way -- that is 'familiar' if you are used to the way it's done on Microsoft's windows. If you prefer to try something else, you can select a different panel layout using the MATE Tweak "Panel" options.
