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The K Desktop Environment (KDE) was first released in 1996 as an open source project to produce a graphical desktop similar to the Microsoft Windows environment. The KDE desktop incorporates all of the features you are probably familiar with if you are a Windows user. Figure 1.3 shows the current version, called KDE Plasma, running in the openSUSE Linux distribution.

FIGURE 1.3 The KDE Plasma desktop on an openSUSE Linux system

The KDE Plasma desktop allows you to place both application and file icons in a special area on the desktop. If you single‐click an application icon, the Linux system starts the application. If you single‐click a file icon, the KDE desktop attempts to determine what application to start to handle the file.

The bar at the bottom of the desktop is called the Panel. The Panel consists of these four parts:

 The KDE Start menu—Much like the Windows Start menu, the KDE Start menu contains links to start installed applications.

 Program shortcuts—These are quick links to start applications directly from the Panel.

 The taskbar—The taskbar shows icons for applications currently running on the desktop.

 Applets—These are small applications that have an icon in the Panel that often can change depending on information from the application.

All of the Panel features are similar to what you would find in Windows. In addition to the desktop features, the KDE project has produced a wide assortment of applications that run in the KDE environment.