Desktop Settings
Open Desktop Settings from the launcher (type desktop) to change
your wallpaper, clock, dock, keyboard shortcuts and default apps. Use
For You for your own choices and All Users for the machine's
defaults.
Settings that belong to the machine rather than the desktop live in System Settings, and a person's own account settings, such as their password and language, in My Settings.
For you, and for all users #
The window has two groups of sections.
| Group | Sections | Kept in |
|---|---|---|
| For You | Wallpaper, Clock, Dock, Keyboard Shortcuts, Default Apps | Your own part of the registry, under CurrentUser\ |
| All Users | Sign-In Screen, Desktop, Keyboard Shortcuts, Default Apps, Advanced | The machine's, under Machine\ |
Anyone may change their own settings. The machine's are, as shipped, for Administrators to change; anyone else sees them read-only, with the reason said once at the top of the section.
How the choices stack #
Most settings exist at three levels, and the nearest one that is set wins:
- Your choice, if you have made one.
- The machine's, set under All Users, for everyone who hasn't chosen.
- The built-in default, what Peios does when nobody has chosen.
Desktop Settings calls the second and third together the System Default: choosing System Default for yourself removes your choice, so the machine's (or the built-in) applies to you again.
When changes take effect #
For your personal settings, a switch or a choice from a list applies the moment it is made; a typed value applies with the Apply button that appears beside it once it has changed. What a change did is said along the bottom of the window.
Some settings for all users take effect later: sign-in-screen settings and a new listen address apply when GXWI next starts, and icon themes apply to new desktop sessions. Changes that could cut people off, such as the address GXWI listens on, ask first, under their row.
Where to start #
Desktop components #
For troubleshooting or advanced configuration, the desktop consists of GXWI, which serves it; Fenestra, which arranges the windows; and fenesh, which provides the top bar, dock and launcher. Desktop Settings ships with fenesh. The settings that select those components are under Advanced.