The Taskbar

The Taskbar displays all running applications -- both minimized and on the desktop (see Figure 3-10).

Like GNOME, Windows 9x and other graphical environments, the Taskbar is an easy way to keep track of and access running applications.

You can keep the Taskbar running in a separate location from the Panel or you can have them both located in the same place on the desktop. The default configuration places the Taskbar at the top of the desktop while the Panel runs at the bottom of the desktop.

You can maximize running applications or bring them to the front of your working windows by clicking on the associated item on the Taskbar.

Switch tasks quickly

Another way to bring minimized or background windows to the front is to use the Alt and Tab keys. To pick an item from the Taskbar, hold down Alt-Tab. To scroll through the tasks, hold down the Alt key, while pressing the Tab key in succession. When you've found the task you want to maximize and bring to the front, stop pressing the Tab key and release the Alt key. This procedure works only on your current desktop, so if you've got applications running on other desktops, you'll have to switch to that desktop in order to maximize it with these keys.