Hi,

First post here. I'm not new to Linux (shell), but rather new to GUIs running on Linux. The one thing I can't figure out in any distribution and any version of KDE, Gnome and others, is to resize windows and icons so that everything won't take the whole screen.

I know how to change the font size, and it helps, but how to make windows, buttons and especially icons in the taskbar tiny like it is on Windows? As soon as more than 2 system windows, plus 2 applications are open, there isn't any space left on the desktop, even on high resolutions (1600x1200).

Sounds silly, but this really is what's preventing me from using Linux as a desktop system.

Hope I'm making sense, thanks for your help!

what KDE version are you using?

In kde 4 you can resize the taskbar, and in kde 4.2 you can have a multi-line taskbar. As for icon size the settings are in system settings > appearance > icons > advanced tab, it will let you set icon sizes.

In kde3 you have to use kcontrol to edit the icon sizes, not sure of the exact location. You can customise the taskbar size by right clicking on it and selecting configure panel, then set a custom size or pick small/tiny: http://blogs.pcworld.co.nz/pcworld/tux-love/panel02.jpg

Could you please provide a screenshot (ksnapshot) and use it to explain what you mean, windows shouldn't be filling up 1600x1200.

SmilingSun2 wrote:what KDE version are you using?

In kde 4 you can resize the taskbar, and in kde 4.2 you can have a multi-line taskbar. As for icon size the settings are in system settings > appearance > icons > advanced tab, it will let you set icon sizes.

In kde3 you have to use kcontrol to edit the icon sizes, not sure of the exact location. You can customise the taskbar size by right clicking on it and selecting configure panel, then set a custom size or pick small/tiny: http://blogs.pcworld.co.nz/pcworld/tux-love/panel02.jpg

Could you please provide a screenshot (ksnapshot) and use it to explain what you mean, windows shouldn't be filling up 1600x1200.

Thanks for your answer!
I'm using KDE 4.0.4 running on openSUSE 11, as a virtual machine.
My current resolution is 1440x900.
Here's a screen capture. I haven't made any of the modifications you suggested yet.



What I mean is that I only have 3 windows open and...well, that fills up much of the screen, and I find this very annoying to work with, it feels like working with a 800x600 resolution (on MS Windows), see what I mean?

Well... apparently you didn't install KDE at all, so why not use this Live CD instead? The KDE version on your disc is pretty old, and this one is a lot more recent.

In KDE 4.2 you can easily change icon sizes directly on dolphin, just look at the zoom slider. As for the 'taskbar', unlock widgets and click on the little logo that appears at rightmost side of the bar, then drag the new bar that appeared and your 'taskbar' will resize accordingly.

xbullethammer wrote:Well... apparently you didn't install KDE at all, so why not use this Live CD instead? The KDE version on your disc is pretty old, and this one is a lot more recent.

In KDE 4.2 you can easily change icon sizes directly on dolphin, just look at the zoom slider. As for the 'taskbar', unlock widgets and click on the little logo that appears at rightmost side of the bar, then drag the new bar that appeared and your 'taskbar' will resize accordingly.

This isn't KDE 4.2, I agree with that and I never said I installed it, but this is KDE, what else can it be? You can even see it on the screenshot, it says KDE 4.0.4.

Ok about the icon size and the taskbar, but what about the rest? Size of the windows, buttons etc? They still take too much space to my liking, especially on that sort of resolution. Is there anything I can do to reduce their proportions?

Ok about the icon size and the taskbar, but what about the rest? Size of the windows, buttons etc? They still take too much space to my liking, especially on that sort of resolution. Is there anything I can do to reduce their proportions?

You can do such things with Skulpture style.
You can configure Skulpture windeco too.

Upgrading to KDE 4.2 is highly recommended, it contains many more features and improved stability over KDE 4.0. Judging by your screenshot you are running openSUSE 11.0. The latest version is openSUSE 11.1. Both have KDE 4.2 available from the openSUSE buildservice KDE:KDE4:Factory repository.

I recommend you to upgrade to 4.2 too; the improvements compared to earlier versions are impressive, seriously.

Regarding to your windows size problem you can set your windows' geometry and size right clicking on the title bar->Configure window behaviour->Window's specific (maybe the names aren't exactly those, I have KDE in Spanish and don't know the exact English translation) and there create rules for windows geometry, preferences and several more parameters.
If you want Konqueror, for example, to open always in the same position, and with the same dimensions you can specify it there. You can create rules for any program you want or apply the same rule for all of them.

Try it, I think you might find a solution.

SmilingSun2 wrote:what KDE version are you using?

In kde 4 you can resize the taskbar, and in kde 4.2 you can have a multi-line taskbar. As for icon size the settings are in system settings > appearance > icons > advanced tab, it will let you set icon sizes....

Actually sizing icons doesn't seem to actually work. I've got a few icons on my desktop which are rather large for my tastes (could they actually be getting bigger? Actually seems so) But when I attempt to set the icon sizes for those on the desktop, there is no effect.

Does one have to restart x-windows to see the change?