Monday, September 19, 2011

Ubuntu Linux Unity Desktop - Multi-tasking with the launcher

Ubuntu's Unity desktop no longer has the bar on the bottom of the screen which would display open windows. You can multi-task with with Ubuntu's Unity desktop using the other traditional ways by using the nearly universal "Alt + Tab" key combination or using the workspace switcher you can use in Linux and Mac OS, but I think most Ubuntu users will multi-task using the launcher.


We already took a look at the launcher in Unity is where you place your most commonly used apps, and it will also display any open apps which are not place on the launcher permanently. The behavior is similar to the dock in Mac OSX. An active app in the launcher is indicated by a marker on the left side of the icon of the app.


Unity does add some new tweaks.  If you launch two instances of the same up, it will have two markers, three or more instances of the same app, will be indicated by three markers.


In the next screen shot, it displays two instances of Mozilla and one instance of LibreOffice Writer running.



To go from one app to another, just click the icon and that app will come to the front of the screen. When you have two instances running it will show you both windows in a reduce sized and you can click on the one you want to focus on.


It's that simple.

2 comments:

  1. No way, it's to freakin hard to multi-task with unity

    ReplyDelete
  2. Okay, concededly it is not as easy a multi-tasking as say with Windows. Ubuntu took a page out of the Mac OSX interface which may be good or bad depending on your preferences. The loss of the bottom bar makes multi-tasking harder.

    ReplyDelete

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