Hello and welcome to this spoken tutorial on Desktop Customization in Ubuntu Linux 16.04 operating system.
In this tutorial, we will learn about the Launcher and how to: remove and add applications in the Launcher,
Use multiple Desktops, change the theme of the Desktop,
internet connectivity, Sound settings,
Time and Date settings and switch to other user accounts.
For this tutorial, I am using Ubuntu Linux 16.04 Operating System.
Let's begin with the Launcher.
Launcher is the default left-side panel in the Ubuntu Linux Desktop which has some default applications.
The Launcher makes it easy to access frequently used applications.
So, we can launch a program by clicking on its desktop shortcut on the Launcher.
By default, the Launcher has some applications.
Let us learn to customize the Launcher based on our requirements.
For my regular work, I need applications like Terminal, LibreOffice Writer, gedit and so on.
Let's add these applications to the Launcher.
Before doing that, I will remove some of the applications which I don't want.
Say, I wish to remove the Amazon application from the Launcher.
Go to the Amazon application icon, then right-click and select Unlock from Launcher.
You can see that the Amazon application icon has been removed from the Launcher.
In the same way, we can remove all the shortcuts which we do not use frequently.
I have removed some applications from the Launcher, as you can see here.
Now, I will add the Terminal shortcut to the Launcher.
Click on Dash home, at the top of the Launcher.
In the search bar, type “terminal”. Click on the Terminal icon to open it.
You can see the Terminal icon on the Launcher.
To fix the Terminal icon on the Launcher, first right-click on it. Then select Lock to Launcher.
Another way to fix application shortcuts on the Launcher, is by dragging and dropping. I will demonstrate this now.
Open Dash Home and in the search bar, type gedit.
Drag the gedit icon onto the Launcher.
Now, drop the gedit icon on the Launcher. You can see the gedit shortcut is now added to the Launcher.
This is how we can add shortcuts on the Launcher.
The next important feature in Ubuntu Linux OS is multiple workspace or Desktop.
Sometimes we may be working on multiple applications
and we may find it difficult to switch from one application to another.
To make it more convenient, we can use Workspace Switcher.
Let’s come back to the Desktop.
In Ubuntu 16.04, multiple workspaces won’t appear by default.
To enable it, click on the System Settings, and then on Appearance.
In the Appearance window, click on Behavior tab.
Here, select Enable workspaces option. This will enable the multiple workspaces icon on the Launcher.
Close this window.
On the Launcher, locate Workspace Switcher icon and click on it.
It shows 4 quadrants with 4 Desktops.
By default, the top-left Desktop is selected.
That is the Desktop in which we are currently working.
Now, let’s select the second Desktop by double-clicking on it.
I will open the terminal here by clicking on the terminal icon in the Launcher.
Now, click on the Workspace Switcher again.
You can see the terminal on the second Workspace and our Desktop on the first.
In this way, you can work on multiple Desktops.
Let’s come back to the first Desktop now.
Trash is another important icon on the Launcher.
Trash contains all the deleted files and folders. In case we delete a file accidentally, we can restore it from Trash.
To demonstrate this, I will delete Hello.txt which is on my Desktop.
Right-click on the file and click on the option Move to Trash.
To restore it, just click on the Trash icon in the Launcher. The Trash folder opens.
Select the file, right-click on it and click on Restore option.
Close the Trash folder window and come back to the Desktop.
We can see the file which we deleted earlier, is now restored.
To delete a file permanently from your system, first select it and then press Shift+Delete keys.
A dialog box is asking “Are you sure you want to permanently delete Hello.txt?” Click on the Delete button.
Click on the Trash icon once again.
We cannot find the file in the Trash folder, as it is permanently deleted from our system.
Aren't you bored of seeing the same theme of the Desktop? Let's change it.
Go to the Launcher and select System settings, and then click on Appearance.
The Appearance window opens up.
Here, under Themes tab, we have many pre-installed themes.
Play with these themes as per your preference.
As soon as you click on any one, you can see that changes get applied on the Desktop.
Click on the tiny X icon to close the window.
Now, we'll see some icons available at the top right corner of the Desktop.
First one is Internet connectivity.
Connection is established if you are connected to any Lan or Wifi network.
You can see these over here.
You can select the network which you have access to.
To Enable or Disable the network, check or uncheck the Enable Networking option.
We can also edit the networks using Edit Connections option.
Next icon is that of Sound.
You can see a slider here.
This helps us to increase or decrease the audio level, as per our choice.
We can further adjust the sound level of our system by clicking on Sound Settings. Explore the settings in this window on your own.
Next icon is Time & Date. If we click on this icon, the calendar opens up.
We can see the current date, month and year.
Arrow buttons allow us to move to other months and years, as per our choice.
We can edit the date and time by clicking on Time & Date Settings.
Explore this option further on your own.
Next, click on the wheel or Power icon.
Here we can see some shortcut options along with Log Out and Shut Down options.
We can also see all the user accounts available in our system.
We can switch to whichever user account we wish to by clicking on that particular user.
With this we come to the end of this tutorial. Let us summarise.
In this tutorial, we have learnt about the Launcher and how to: remove and add applications in the Launcher,
use multiple Desktops, changing the Desktop theme,
Internet connectivity, Sound settings,
Time & Date settings and switch to other user accounts.
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