This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Common Questions
How do I shut my computer off?
One of the more controversial design decisions taken with the shell is the removal of option to shut down the computer. Thankfully that option is not completely gone, merely hidden. While the user menu is open, hold the Alt key and you will see Suspend change to Power Off... just like in Figure 9-5.
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Figure 9-5 Showing the shut down options
Where are the window controls? How do I minimize and maximize?
GNOME Shell introduces yet another choice for window controls. Unlike GNOME 2's right hand side and Ubuntu's more recent choice of the left corner, GNOME Shell retains the right hand side, but eliminates all but the close arrow. Minimizing can now only be done via the keyboard shortcut (Alt-F9), while windows can be maximized via double-clicking on the window bar. Right-clicking on the window bar will also bring up the window control menu, as can be seen in Figure 9-6.
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Figure 9-6 Controlling the windows via a menu
How do I change the theme?
Short answer: you can't. The long answer is that theming is coming and isn't viewed as a high priority, given all the massive architecture changes and the fact that GNOME shell is written in a completely new language, JavaScript. Expect theming to appear soon, because people like nothing more than to make their windows pretty colors.
How do I open an application in the background?
If you want to open an application in the background, rather than just clicking on the icon, click and hold, then drag it to another workspace. It will open in that workspace without closing the overview mode. This even works with the Applications listing, as the overlay will switch to the Windows listing upon dragging of an application, as can be seen in Figure 9-7.
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Figure 9-7 Opening an application in the background