Chapter 2. GNOME Desktop Overview

Copyright and Legal Notice

2.3. Windows

2.3.a. Types of Windows

There are two main types of window:

Application windows

Application windows allow all the minimize, maximize and close operations through the buttons on the titlebar. When opening an application you will usually see a window of this type appear.

Dialog windows

Dialog windows appear at the request of an application window. A dialog window may alert you to a problem, ask for confirmation of an action, or request input from you.

For example, if you tell an application to save a document, a dialog will ask you where you want to save the new file. If you tell an application to quit while it is still busy, it may ask you to confirm that you want it to abandon work in progress.

Some dialogs do not allow you to interact with the main application window until you have closed them: these are called modal dialogs. Others can be left open while you work with the main application window: these are called transient dialogs.

	Tip:
	You can select the text in a dialog with the mouse. This allows you to copy it to the clipboard (CTRL-C to copy), and paste it into another application. You may wish to quote the text you see in a dialog when requesting support on the Internet.

(Next: Manipulating Windows)

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GNOME Desktop Overview
Table of Contents

2.1 Introduction

2.2. The Desktop

2.3 Windows
     2.3.a. Types of Windows (You are here)
     2.3.b. Manipulating Windows
     2.3.c. Giving Focus to a Window

2.4. Workspaces
     2.4.a. Switching Between Workspaces
     2.4.b. Adding Workspaces

2.5. Applications
     2.5.a. Common Features
     2.5.b. Working With Files
     2.5.c. Choosing a File to Open
     2.5.d. Saving a File

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