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Oracle Solaris 11 User's Guide for the GNOME Desktop Oracle Solaris 11 Information Library |
1. Getting Started With the Desktop
3. Using the Desktop Workspaces
5. Using the Desktop Applications
8. Using the Desktop Tools and Utilities
How to Edit a Keyboard Shortcut
Setting Internet and Network Preferences
Input Method Keyboard Preferences
Keyboard Accessibility Preferences
Keyboard Accessibility Audio Feedback
This section explains how to use the Appearance preference tool to configure the desktop.
The Appearance preference tool enables you to configure various aspects of the desktop:
Theme
Desktop Background
Fonts
User Interface
A theme is a group of coordinated settings that specifies the visual appearance of a part of the Oracle Solaris Desktop. You can choose themes to change the appearance of the Oracle Solaris Desktop. Use the Theme tab to select a theme. You can choose from a list of available themes, which includes several themes for users with accessibility requirements.
A theme contains settings in the Customize Theme window that affect different parts of the Oracle Solaris Desktop, as follows:
Controls – The controls setting in the Controls Tab, determines the visual appearance of windows, panels, and applets. The Controls setting also determines the visual appearance of the interface items that appear on windows, panels, and applets, such as menus, icons, and buttons. Some of the Controls setting options that are available are designed for special accessibility needs. You can choose an option for the controls setting from the Controls tab in the Customize Theme window.
Colors – The color setting in the Colors tabfor a theme determines the color of various user interface elements.
Note - Make sure you choose pairs of colors that have a good contrast with each other, otherwise text might become hard to read.
Window frame – The window frame setting in the Window Border tab determines the appearance of the frames around windows only.
Icons – The icon setting in the Icon tab determines the appearance of the icons on panels and the desktop background.
Pointer - The pointer setting in the Pointer tab determines the appearance of and size of the mouse pointer.
The themes that are listed in the Theme tab are different combinations of controls options, window frame options, and icon options. You can create a custom theme that uses different combinations of controls options, window frame options, and icon options.
Open the Theme tab.
The Customize Theme dialog is displayed.
For more information about the options, see Theme Preferences.
The Save Theme As dialog is displayed.
The custom theme now appears in your list of available themes.
You can add a theme to the list of available themes. The new theme must be an archive file, .tar.gz, that is tarred and zipped.
Open the Theme tab.
The File Chooser dialog is displayed.
You can delete controls options, window frame options, or icons options.
Open the Theme tab.
The Customize Theme dialog is displayed.
Note - You cannot delete system-wide theme options.
The desktop background is the image or color that is applied to your desktop. You can open the Background tab in the Appearance preference tool by right-clicking on the desktop and choosing Change Desktop Background, as well as from the System -> Preferences menu.
You can customize the desktop background in the following ways:
Select an image for the desktop background. The image is superimposed on the desktop background color. The desktop background color is visible if you select a transparent image, or if the image does not cover the entire desktop.
Select a color for the desktop background. You can select a solid color, or create a gradient effect with two colors. A gradient effect is a visual effect where one color blends gradually into another color.
Note - You can also drag a color or a pattern to the desktop from the Backgrounds and Emblems dialog in the file manager.
The following table lists the background preferences that you can modify.
Table 9-2 Desktop Background Preferences
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Use the Fonts tab in the Appearance preference tool to choose which fonts are used in different parts of the desktop, and the way in which fonts are displayed on the screen.
You can choose fonts for the following parts of the desktop:
Application font – Used in the menus, toolbars, and dialog boxes of applications.
Document font – Used to display documents in applications.
Note - In some applications, you can override this choice in the application's preferences dialog.
Desktop font – Used in icon labels on the desktop.
Window title font – Used in the titlebars of windows.
Fixed width font – Used in the Terminal application and in applications related to programming.
The font selector button shows the name of the font and its point size. The name is also shown in bold, italic, or regular type.
The Font Picker dialog is displayed.
The preview area shows your current choice.
You can set the following options relating to how fonts are displayed on the screen:
Rendering – Specifies how to render fonts on your screen:
Monochrome – Renders fonts in black and white only. The edges of characters might appear jagged in some cases because the characters are not antialiased. (Antialiasing is an effect that is applied to the edges of characters to make the characters look smoother.)
Best shapes – Antialiases fonts where possible. Use this option for standard Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors.
Best contrast – Adjusts fonts to give the sharpest possible contrast, and also antialiases fonts, so that characters have smooth edges. This option might enhance the accessibility of the Oracle Solaris Desktop for users with visual impairments.
Subpixel smoothing (LCDs) – Uses techniques that exploit the shape of individual Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) pixels to render fonts. Use this option for LCD or flat-screen displays.
Details – Determines how to render fonts on the screen:
Resolution (dots per inch) – Specifies the resolution to use when your screen renders fonts.
Smoothing – Specifies how to antialias fonts.
Hinting – This is font-rendering technique that improves the quality of fonts at small sizes and an at low screen resolutions. Select one of the options to specify how to apply hinting to your fonts.
Subpixel order - Specifies the subpixel color order for your fonts. Use this option for LCD or flat-screen displays.
You can use the Interface tab in the Appearance preference tool to customize the appearance of menus, menubars, and toolbars for applications. As you make changes to the settings, the preview display in the window updates so you can see the changes if no application windows are currently open.
This option displays an icon beside items in application menus and the panel menu. Not all menu items have an icon.
This option enables you to define new keyboard shortcuts for menu items. To change an application shortcut key, open the menu, and with the mouse pointer on the menu item you want to change, press the new combination of keys. To remove a shortcut key, press Backspace or Del.
Note - When using this feature, you will not be warned if assigning a new shortcut key to a command also removes it from another command.
You cannot restore the original, default keyboard shortcut for a command.
This feature does not maintain shortcuts that are common to all applications, such as Ctrl+C for Copy to avoid inconsistencies in your applications.
The following Toolbar button labels specify what to display on the toolbars in your applications:
Text Below Icons – Displays toolbars with text as well as an icon on each button.
Text Beside Icons – Displays toolbars with only an icon on each button, and with text on the most important buttons.
Icons Only – Select this option to display toolbars with an icon only on each button.
Text Only – Displays toolbars with only text on each button.
Use the Windows preference tool to customize window behavior for the Oracle Solaris Desktop.
The following table lists the windows preferences that you can modify.
Table 9-3 Windows Preferences
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Note - You can modify the position of the Control, Alt, and Super keys on the keyboard in the Keyboard Layout Options dialog. For more information, see Keyboard Layout Options.
A screensaver displays moving images on your screen when your computer is not being used. Screensavers also help prevent older monitors from being damaged by the same image being displayed for long periods of time. To stop the screensaver and return to the desktop, move the mouse or press a key on the keyboard.
You can modify the following settings in the Screensaver preference tool:
Screensaver – Select the Screensaver theme from the list. A reduced version of the selected screensaver theme is shown. Click Preview to show the selected theme on the whole screen. During preview, use the arrow buttons at the top of the screen to go through the list of screensaver themes.
The Blank screen theme displays no image and shows a black screen.
The Random theme selects a screensaver to display from the list at random.
Regard the computer as idle after – Your computer becomes idle after this amount of time has passed with no input from you, such as moving the mouse or typing. This setting might affect power management (the monitor might power, down for example) or instant messaging (chat applications might set your status as away). Use the slider to set the length of time in minutes or hours.
Activate screensaver when computer is idle - Select this option to have the screensaver start after the set length of time.
Lock screen when screensaver is active- When this option is selected, the screensaver will prompt you for your password when you try to return to the desktop. For more information about locking your screen, see Locking the Screen.