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<H3><A NAME="s4">4. Working with Windows</A></H3>

<P>If you have not already done so, start an application using the
<A HREF="index-3.html#starter">Application Starter</A>, like "Find Files".
<P>
<H3><A NAME="ss4.1">4.1 A window! What now?</A>
</H3>

<P>Well, usually people work <EM>inside</EM> windows, but sometimes you may
want to manipulate windows. Here's a quick overview of some of the most
common window-related functions:
<P>
<UL>
<LI><B>Move a window:</B> Drag the window's titlebar, or hold the <CODE>Alt</CODE>
key down and drag anywhere in the window.
<P>
</LI>
<LI><B>Resize a window:</B> Drag the window's border, or hold the
<CODE>Alt</CODE> key down and drag with the right mouse button anywhere in the
window.
<P>
</LI>
<LI><B>Maximize a window:</B> Click the maximize button in the titlebar
(the square next to the X) to make the window fill the screen, or to shrink
the window back to its original size if maximized.
Clicking with the middle mouse button maximizes
the window vertically; the right button, horizontally.
<P>
</LI>
<LI><B>Iconify a window:</B> Click the iconify
button in the titlebar (next to Maximize) to hide the window.
Get it back by clicking the window's icon in the taskbar.
<P>
</LI>
<LI><B>Switch between windows:</B> Aside from the usual mouse click
to switch to another window, you can use <CODE>Alt-Tab</CODE> to switch windows.
See below for more techniques.</LI>
</UL>
<P>
<H4>Titlebar buttons</H4>

<P>KDE windows have some pretty standard buttons on their titlebars which
give you fast access to some common operations. The default button
layout looks like this:
<P>On the left side:
<P>
<UL>
<LI>a menu button. This usually shows a mini icon
for the application. Click on it to get a window operations menu. <BR>
Shortcut: <CODE>Alt-F3</CODE> opens the window menu.
<P>
</LI>
<LI>a sticky button, with a picture of a tack. What the heck is this? Stay
tuned! </LI>
</UL>
<P>On the right side:
<P>
<UL>
<LI>an iconify button. </LI>
<LI>a maximize button. </LI>
<LI>a close button. This closes the window.<BR>
Shortcut: <CODE>Alt-F4</CODE>. </LI>
</UL>
<P>
<H4>Switching between windows</H4>

<P>Now that we know how to deal with windows we encourage you to open
some other windows with the panel since we will now discuss how to
switch between different windows. Since this is such a common activity,
KDE offers several ways to do it; pick your favorite!
<P>Many window systems require you to click the mouse in another window to
begin using it. This is KDE's default behavior, termed "ClickToFocus" focus
policy. But you can also configure your desktop
in a way that moving the mouse pointer onto a window will 
activate it. This is called FocusFollowMouse. If you select this
policy using the 
<A HREF="index-6.html#configure">KDE Control Panel</A>, the window
under the mouse pointer is always the active one. It doesn't necessarily
come to the front automatically, but you can still click
onto the titlebar or the border of a window or -- a KDE special -- you
can use the <CODE>Alt</CODE> key and click the middle mouse button anywhere on
the window to raise it.
<P>Here are some other methods to switch windows:
<UL>
<LI>Pick a window from the <EM>window list</EM> menu. To open the menu, click the
middle mouse button on an empty area of the desktop; click the icon with
several windows on the panel; or press <CODE>Ctrl-Esc</CODE>.
<P>
</LI>
<LI>Hold down the <CODE>Alt</CODE> key and press <CODE>Tab</CODE> to cycle through
the windows.
<P>
</LI>
<LI>Use the taskbar (see below).</LI>
</UL>
<P>
<H3><A NAME="ss4.2">4.2 Using the Taskbar</A>
</H3>

<P>The <EM>taskbar</EM> displays a list of small icons, one for each window on the
desktop. In the default KDE setup the taskbar is located in the top left
corner, but it can also be located at the top or the bottom of the screen.
<P>The taskbar is very powerful: A simple click with the left mouse
button on the appropriate taskbar button will bring you to the selected
application immediately. Click an entry with the middle mouse button 
to iconify/deiconify a window. Last but not least, the right mouse
button will pop up a context menu, with window operations for the
selected window.
<P>
<H3><A NAME="ss4.3">4.3 Using Virtual Desktops</A>
</H3>

<P>Now, what was that "sticky" thing?
<P>It may happen that you have more windows open than space on your
desktop. In this case you have three possibilities:
<P>
<OL>
<LI> Leave all windows open (cluttered desktop)</LI>
<LI> Iconify those windows which you do not need at present and use
the taskbar or <CODE>Alt-Tab</CODE> to switch between them (still a bit confusing
and much work!) </LI>
<LI> Recommended: Do what a real operating system does if there is not
enough physical memory: Use virtual memory, in this case virtual
desktops. </LI>
</OL>
<P>Item 3 is the way to go! KDE can handle several different
desktops, each with its own windows. The default configuration
provides four desktops.  You can switch between the
virtual desktops easily with a click on one of the desktop
buttons on the panel. Also <CODE>Ctrl-F1...F8</CODE> will send you to the corresponding
desktop immediately, or <CODE>Ctrl-Tab</CODE> will cycle through the desktops. Finally,
if you move the mouse to a corner of the screen and hold it there briefly, KDE
will switch to the desktop in the direction you indicated.
<P>Virtual desktops are very nice. But sometimes you want a window to
be present on <EM>every</EM> desktop. This could be for example a small chat
window or a alarm clock or whatever. In this case you can use the
above mentioned "sticky"-button which will pin the window on the
background so that it will appear on every virtual desktop.
<P>The sticky button can also be used to move a window from one virtual desktop
to another one: push the sticky pin on the window, switch to a different
desktop, and release the pin by pushing it again.
But it is easier if you use the context popup menu of the window's entry
in the taskbar (menu item "Onto current desktop") or the "Send to" option
on the window operations menu.
<P>
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