User Guide

This is the new top-level page for the wiki-based work on the Fedora User Guide. To help contribute or to view the status of each page, go to User Guide tasks.


 * Fedora 11 User Guide

Documentation Summary
Purpose: How to accomplish specific tasks with the desktop applications in Fedora 12. This requires a major expansion of the content beyond the GNOME desktop to include KDE and Xfce. Other packages for common functions may also be considered, such as Thunderbird for e-mail.

Audience: Individuals who are unfamiliar with the default Fedora desktop and who may be running their first Linux desktop.

Approach: This document explains basic principles by explaining one principle at a time. The document does not assume familiarity with any Linux/UNIX-specific terminology or concepts. Functionality is also compared, where appropriate, to what the reader may know from other OSes, particularly Microsoft Windows.

Assumptions: The reader has a standard desktop class installation or live instance of Fedora with, including a user account with the default settings. The reader does have access to the root password. (We changed this "non-root access" assumption so that we can include more coverage of regular software updates and the installation of alternate packages and desktops.)

Related Documents: The Administration_Guide further documents detailed tasks that require root access. The Getting_Started_Guide is a general introduction to using Fedora. Each desktop application has integrated Help, so the scope of this document may need to be considered carefully.

Lead Writer: Matthew Daniels

Writers:

User_Guide_contributors

User Guide Table of Contents
The links below go directly to the actual pages.


 * User Guide - Introduction
 * User Guide - The Fedora Desktops
 * User Guide - Logging in
 * User Guide - Tour of the GNOME Desktop
 * User Guide - Tour of the KDE Desktop
 * User Guide - Tour of the Xfce Desktop
 * User Guide - Media
 * User Guide - Connecting to the Internet
 * User Guide - Accessing the Web
 * User Guide - Communications
 * User Guide - Office Tools
 * User Guide - Financial Software
 * User Guide - Playing Multimedia
 * User Guide - Multimedia Production
 * User Guide - Playing Games
 * User Guide - Managing Photos
 * User Guide - Sharing Your Desktop
 * User Guide - Customizing the Desktop
 * User Guide - Managing Software

Introduction

 * Purpose of this Guide

Desktops

 * GNOME
 * KDE
 * Xfce

Logging in

 * Logging into a Desktop
 * Logging into a Terminal
 * The Multiuser Model
 * The Superuser

Tour of the GNOME Desktop

 * First View of the GNOME Desktop
 * The GNOME Menu Panel
 * The GNOME Desktop Area
 * The GNOME Window List Area

Tour of the KDE Desktop

 * First View of the KDE Desktop
 * The KDE Menu Panel
 * The KDE Desktop Area
 * The KDE Window List Area

Tour of the Xfce Desktop

 * First View of the Xfce Desktop
 * The Xfce Menu Panel
 * The Xfce Desktop Area
 * The Xfce Window List Area

Using Media

 * Understanding Media
 * Exploring Media
 * Writing CDs or DVDs
 * Using a USB Drive

Accessing the Web

 * Browsing the World Wide Web

Communications

 * Understanding Communications
 * Setting up Email
 * Setting up Instant Messaging

Office Tools

 * Using OpenOffice

Playing Multimedia

 * Playing Audio Files and CDs
 * Playing Video Files and VCDs

Multimedia Production

 * Converting Audio and Ripping CDs
 * Editing Multimedia Files
 * Screen Casting

Playing Games

 * Wasting Time

Managing Photos

 * Importing photos
 * Organizing photos

Sharing Your Desktop

 * Getting Assistance

Customizing the Desktop

 * Customizing the Menu Panel
 * Changing the Background
 * Changing the Desktop Theme
 * Changing File Browsing Behavior

Managing Software

 * Check what is installed
 * See what can be installed
 * Install new software
 * Update existing software
 * Manage update alerts
 * Focus on PackageKit
 * Updated information for Pirut and Pup