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Before we get stuck in, let’s start with a quick primer on Linux desktops. If you’re used to Windows or OS X, you might be surprised to learn that Linux users have a choice.

This is more significant than changing the theme, fonts, palette or widgets. Your Linux desktop affects how common tasks are accomplished, the level of application integration and how the environment reacts to input. The most common desktops are Gnome and KDE, which represent two sides of an argument.

On one hand you have Gnome. This represents streamlined simplicity, where the desktop’s job is to be as inconspicuous as possible. In general terms, it’s more like OS X than Windows.

KDE, meanwhile, is crammed full of features. Almost every window has a series of configuration options, and the user is free to change almost every aspect of the desktop, from the positioning of the window buttons, to the wobbly windows eye candy and the rotating virtual desktop switcher.

One of KDE’s most radical new features is something that could also benefit Gnome users, and those looking forward to some of the possibilities Windows 8 might offer. It’s KDE’s idea of how to manage what you do. ‘Activities’, in the KDE sense, are self-contained setups for your desktop that are customised for a specific task. You might, for instance, want a production environment for programming. You could use KDE’s Activities to open certain applications on certain desktops, litter your background with the widgets and tools you find most useful, and shift your desktop menus and icons into the places that are most comfortable for that task.

You could then remove distractions from your desktop, (like IRC, Twitter and IM clients) that are likely to get in the way of a decent coding session. When you’ve got 20 minutes to waste, switch to a more general Activity and see your desktop restored.

Getting started

KDE’s Activity functions have been knocking around the desktop for a couple of years, but if you’ve followed the drama of KDE releases over that time, you’ll know that many of its features have only just become usable. This is because KDE developers were a little ambitious in their plans for the current generation of desktop, and it’s taken a little time for the code to catch up with the ideas.

For this reason, you need to get hold of at least KDE 4.6. At the time of writing, the latest release is KDE 4.6.1. You can find these on the latest Kubuntu release (11.04, available from the end of April), in the PPA archive for an older Kubuntu release, or with another KDE-centric Linux distribution like OpenSUSE 11.4.

Both Kubuntu and OpenSUSE can be used as a live CD if you want to experiment without committing to an installation. For ease of use, we’ve opted for a Kubuntu 11.04 live CD, but KDE works the same whichever distribution you’ve plumped for.

If this is your first time using KDE, there shouldn’t be any surprises. There’s a launch menu in the bottom left of the screen, a task manager and applet viewer on the lower border, and a small icon for adding desktop widgets on the top right. One difference between KDE and other desktops is that there’s a distinction between file management and symbolic links left on the background. By default, only the ‘Desktop folder’ window on the background will display what’s in your filesystem’s ‘Desktop’ folder.

The other space is meant to be used for widgets and links to applications you drag from the launch menu. The system that manages this functionality is called Plasma, and this is also what controls desktop Activities.

Create an Activity

Activities are created by clicking the Plasma widget on the top right of the screen. From the menu that appears, click on the ‘Activities’ option. An icon bar will appear above the lower panel (the same as the one used for adding widgets, if you’ve tried this already. You will see that there’s already one activity added. To create another, click the ‘Create Activity’ button.

With slightly older versions of KDE, you don’t get any further options – an activity is created and you’re then free to customise this in any way you feel appropriate. With KDE 4.6.1, a small submenu lets you choose between a few Activity templates, and these can save you time if you’re creating an activity for a common task. If you select the ‘Photos’ activity, for example, the desktop will include links to KDE’s photo management applications, as well as a clock for some reason.

The ‘Search and Launch’ activity transforms the desktop into a tablet/netbook optimised UI with a focus on getting to the applications you need to run quickly, whereas the ‘Newspaper’ layout clears the desktop of any distractions.Whichever you choose, the new Activity will be enabled and the desktop will update.

The extent of these changes defines what KDE’s Activities are capable of. An Activity can have its own background, it’s own widgets, a selection of applications and links to files on the background. What you can’t change are the desktop theme and effects settings, as these are global for the entire KDE desktop. Otherwise, you’re free to configure each Activity for whichever role you choose.

Other than the ideas suggested by the templates, common options are Activities for playing games and web browser, and those for doing some work. It’s a pity you can’t disable the internet connection for those Activities too.

Apps and Activities

Activities should make you think again about how you use and organise applications. Virtual desktops are convenient for using several windows at once, for instance, but they’re not great for performing several tasks at the same time. This is what activities are for. They let you create an environment for running several related application at the same time, such as a terminal and IDE, and let you access these features quickly and easily.

Now you’ve got a few Activities up and running, the next step is to use them effectively. Activities are like extra dimensions tagged onto virtual desktops. Just as you might use a virtual desktop for one specific application, you can do the same for activities. If you’re running Firefox on one activity and want to move it to another, right-click on the top window border. Just below the menu option for sending Firefox to a specific virtual desktop, there’s now the option to send it to one of your new Activities.

You can make an application appear on all Activities at the same time. This is useful if you want to have the same Firefox session visible on each Activity, for example. Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait until KDE 4.7 if you want applications to launch onto an Activity automatically, or for Activities to launch applications when you switch to them.

Controlling Activities

But if activities are going to become an essential part of your desktop, you’re going to need a better method for switching between them than opening the activities widget and clicking on a new activity. Fortunately, the KDE development team have already thought of this problem, and, this being KDE, there are a couple of options.

The easiest to use is a Plasma widget that lets you click through the activities easily, and these widgets can be added from either of the golden cashew icons on the desktop. If the Widgets option doesn’t appear when you click on one of these, make sure you click on the ‘Unlock Widgets’ item, as this is the secret to making changes to the desktop.

From the Widgets view that appears, either use the search field to restrict the widgets to ‘Activity’, or scroll through the list until you find the ‘Activity bar’ icon. As with many KDE widgets, this can be dragged onto the desktop background, or onto the toolbar at  the bottom of the screen. Which you choose will affect how it works.

In the toolbar, you’ll be able to see four or five activities in a list, and switch between them by clicking on the activity you’d like. On the desktop, left and right arrows are used to scroll between all the available activities. But there’s another difference. The desktop-bound widget is only configured to appear on the activity you were using when you created it, so as soon as you’ve switched, your ability to quickly move between activities is also left behind.

The obvious solution is to add the same widget to each of your activities and make sure it’s in an identical position. Or you can just use the widget in the toolbar, because this remains the same across all Activities.

Switching shortcuts

As you might expect, you can also switch between activities using your keyboard and mouse. The easiest option is to use your mouse wheel to scroll between any activities you’ve added, and this can be configured by right-clicking on the desktop background and choosing the ‘Settings’ option. This is usually the last item in the menu, but it can change depending on which layout mode you’re using for your activity.

From the window that appears, click on the ‘Mouse actions’ icon. This lists three dropdown menus for each mouse button, and possibly more if your mouse has been recognised. The scroll wheel should be the second option, and you can change this to quickly switch activities by selecting that option from the drop-down menu to the right.

You could also add another shortcut, like holding [Shift] and scrolling the wheel, by clicking on the ‘Add Action’ button and making the same assignment. Finally, keyboard shortcuts aren’t ignored either, but they’re not easy to find. Open KDE’s System Settings application from the launch menu, and find the ‘Gestures and Shortcuts’ panel. Open this and switch to the ‘Global keyboard shortcuts’ view. In the panel that appears, click the dropdown menu and select ‘Plasma desktop shell’. You will now see the list of keyboard shortcuts that will let you switch Activities and change them to something more useful, hopefully completely the transformation of how you use your desktop.

This MakeIt feature is taken from PC Plus Issue 308 – on sale now. To view the expanded feature with additional tips and information, as well as nine more fantastic MakeIt features click here to buy the digital version of the issue now.