Programs and Documents

KDE offers a varying number of ways to launch programs. The most common way to launch a program is by clicking the relevant launcher in the K menu. Programs can also be launched using Konsole or clicking the K menu and choosing Run Program. The final way to launch a program is clicking the associated launcher on the desktop.

The K menu functions much like the Start menu of Windows®, however it breaks programs up by what they do. Programs on the K menu are broken into category menus, such as Multimedia and Office. Under these category menus there are subcategory menus, such as Sound, Video and Graphics. Under the subcategory menus lie program launchers, which, when clicked on, launch the associated application.

Depending on the program, there may not be a launcher in the K menu. To search your hard drive for more applications, click the K menu, choose Run Command and type kappfinder. In Kappfinder, click Scan, and the hard drive will be searched for programs. Click the checkbox next to each program to be added to the K menu, and click Apply and Close. The K menu now will have new program launchers under the relevant category menus.

Launchers to programs may also be placed on the desktop. To create a new launcher, right click on the desktop, and choose Create New->File->Link to Application. On the KDesktop properties dialog box, type in the name of the program on the General tab. You may also wish to choose a custom icon by clicking on the gear icon. Click the Application tab and type a short sentence about the program in the Description textbox. In the Command textbox, type the name of the program (case sensitive), and any command line options you wish to use. Choose OK, and your new program launcher will be created on your desktop. Just double click the new launcher on the desktop and the associated program will run.

To launch a program using Konsole, click the K menu and choose System->Terminals ->Konsole. Once Konsole appears on the screen, simply type the name of the program you wish to launch (remembering Konsole is case sensitive) and press Enter. If you are unsure about the name of a program, type the first few letters then press the Tab key on your keyboard. By pressing Tab, Konsole will try to guess the name of the program you wish to launch. If Konsole finds more then one matching program, a list of matching programs will be printed on the screen. Type the name of the program from the list and press Enter to launch.

Whichever way you choose, launching a program is a simple affair with KDE. From the K menu, to Konsole, all your programs are just a few clicks or key presses away.