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Exploring the Desktop

Background

The Ubuntu Desktop varies somewhat depending on what flavor of Ubuntu you're using. The stock Ubuntu 18.04 LTS that I currently have installed looks fantastic and runs smoothly.

OS X, Windows, and Linux all provide desktop environments that give users access to some of the more commonly used features of the computer, but if you're just coming over from the Mac, you'll need to take a bit of time to get re-oriented.

Here's just enough to get you started.

Startup

When you start up your new installation of Ubuntu 18.04 you're presented with this startup screen.

Feel free to click "Next" to be presented with a brief intro to the new version of Ubuntu, release 18.04, nicknamed "Bionic Beaver".

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS Desktop

Orientation

There are no files or folders on the desktop above, just a trashcan. There is, however, the Menu Bar across the top of the screen and the Dock (formerly called the Launcher down the left side of the screen.

Different flavors of Ubuntu will vary, with additional features, or perhaps the Dock not visible. For now, we'll stick with the stock Ubuntu.

The Menu Bar

The Menu Bar at the top is visible in most all Ubuntu flavors. In Ubuntu 18.04 it includes the "window switcher" (Activities) on the left, a date/time calendar in the center, and shortcuts to the Volume, Screen brightness, Network, Bluetooth, Battery Status, System Settings, and Shut Down options on the right.

Activities - window switcher

On the left side of the menu bar is the Activities icon, which acts as a shortcut to navigating to different windows if you have multiple applications running at once. Clicking on the "Activities" in the menu bar will reveal all open windows, allowing you to select one.

You can also hit Alt-Tab on the keyboard to cycle through and select a window from all open windows.

Activities - Search

The same Activities icon reveals a Search textbox. Keywords entered here will search through associated applications that can be launched.

The Dock

The Launcher in Ubuntu is the equivalent of the Dock in OS X, or the Start menu in Windows. It contains shortcuts to commonly used applications, a shortcut to the Trashcan, and status indicators for apps that are currently running (the tiny white arrows on the left of the icons).

Left-clicking on any of these icons will launch the app, or bring it to the front of the window if it's already running. Right-clicking on any of these icons will give you other options, including allowing you to "Unlock" the icon from the Launcher so that won't be visible when the application isn't running, or Locking a currently running app into the Launcher so it will remain there even after it quits.

When an application is running and has open windows, that application will have a red dot next to it in the Dock, indicating so.

 

Files

Perhaps one of the most important icons in the Dock is the Files icon, which opens a file browsing window. The default location is your home directory, and from here, you're free to explore up and down the entire file hierarchy of the machine, change the way you view those files (as icons or as a list), etc.

The Keyboard and Trackpad/Mouse

The trackpad and mouse on PCs has a left-click and a right-click, with the left-click usually activating the "standard" behavior—selecting a file or folder, activating a link in the web browser—while the right-click usually performs some sort of meta-function: right-clicking on a link in a browser, for example, brings up options for opening the link in a new tab, a new window, an Incognito window, etc.

The keyboard itself is similar to a Mac keyboard, although some of the special keys along the bottom row are different, and have been rearranged somewhat.

Keyboard shortcuts are similar to the Mac, except for the fact that shortcuts that use the Command-key (which doesn't exist on a PC) instead use the Control (Ctrl) key. Also, some key combination require the use of the [Super] key, which on the XPS 13 has a Windows logo on it.

Otherwise, the usual, common, shortcuts apply:

Other Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard Shortcuts in Ubuntu.