Introducing Ubuntu 10.10

The Ubuntu Desktop has changed quite a bit since we last looked at it. It looks quite different from Windows but by the end of this video you’ll see how easy it is to use and some of the useful tools that it includes. This video covers Ubuntu Desktop rather than Ubuntu Netbook.

The first thing you’ll notice is that there are two bars in Ubuntu at the top and the bottom.

The bottom bar has space for the program bars just like the Taskbar in Windows, with an icon to show the desktop on the left and Recycle Bin on the right. Beyond the Recycle bin are four icons to represent the four desktops you can put programs on, called Workspaces. The advantage of this is you can leave the music player running maximised on a different desktop. To move a program between desktops, right-click on the title bar and select a new Workspace.

The top-left corner of the screen has the Ubuntu equivalent of the Start Menu but split over three menus. The first is Applications where you can find all of the programs installed on the computer. More programs can be installed by clicking on the Ubuntu Software Centre. Programs are arranged in categories or you can use the search box.

The next menu, Places, has shortcuts to the various folders in your Home folder as well as the disks in the computer. This can include Windows disks if you are using a live CD or dual booting.

The System menu has two main parts. The Preferences menu has all kinds of settings for your account such as Appearance. In this window you can change the look of Ubuntu, the desktop wallpaper, fonts and visual effects if your graphics card supports them. If a Background looks like a pile of paper it has several pictures in a slideshow. Changes take place immediately.

Administration covers more technical changes to the computer and you may need to enter your password to access them. For example, the Startup Manager lets you change the default operating system on the computer.

The middle of the top bar can be used to store shortcuts or information about the computer such as the battery marker on this notebook.

Finally the top right-hand corner of the screen has some useful information starting with the date and time. Next to this is the chat icon. Ubuntu supports many different instant-messaging services including Facebook chat. The power button has the obvious options. The Guest session if someone wants to use your computer but without giving them access to your documents. The final icon shows the status of the network. Clicking on it shows all of the wireless networks in range.

The only other thing to point out is that the window controls are on the left not the right as they are in Windows. They work the same way though and will close, minimise to taskbar and maximise the window.