The GNOME desktop appears after you first log in. It displays a panel at the bottom showing the following elements (from left to right):
Applications menu
Click Applications in the left corner to open a menu with all the installed programs. These are classified under different categories for a better overview. Sub-items open automatically when you place the mouse above them.
Click Activities Overview in the bottom part of the Applications menu to open Activities Overview where you can start programs and manage those already running.
Places menu
Click Places to open a menu with shortcuts to your personal directories, connected storage media, and network resources.
Task switcher
All applications currently open on the desktop (on the active workspace) appear in the middle part of the panel. You can bring these applications to the foreground by clicking their names.
Notification indicator (not always visible)
When there are notifications, for example, for new chat or e-mail messages or concerning system updates, an indicator will appear. The indicator is a blue circle with the number of available notifications displayed in the middle. Click the indicator to open the Message Tray where you can interact with all the notifications.
Workspace switcher
This menu lets you select a workspace (also called a virtual desktop) to work on. This feature can help you work with many windows. For example, you could move windows needed for one project to workspace 1 and windows needed for another project to workspace 2.
Date and time
The current day of the week and time are shown to the right from the workspace switcher. Click it to open a menu where you can access a calendar and adjust date and time settings.
Status icons
In the right corner of the panel, icons showing the current status of the network connection, sound volume and power/battery status are displayed.
Click the icons to open a menu where you can adjust sound volume, display brightness, network connection, and power settings. Click the name to display the options for logging out or for switching to another user.
The three icons in the lower part of the menu allow you to, from left to right, open the GNOME settings dialog, lock the screen, and power off or restart your computer.
Figure 1.3: GNOME Desktop with Activities Overview