Have a little problem with that bar on top of the screen....
I use netbook workspace on my desktop. Problem is every time I open a new window/application (whatever) the bar auto-hides. It's really annoying.

Before I switch the workspace option to "netbook" took me a while and tried to configure the workspace that way. So I may have clicked on something - problem is don't know what or where it is.

As for the windows, they are being launched fully maximized. Is there any way to prevent that?

These are both intended behaviors of Plasma Netbook. Are you use you want to use the Netbook version and not just regular Plasma Desktop? (I use the latter for my netbook.)

I don't know how to make the panel not auto-hide. As for the maximized windows, I would take a look at the window rules in System Settings -> Window Behavior -> Window Rules.

Followed your advice. Trying to configure on a normal Desktop behaviour... will see how it goes... Thanks for all the input.