UnoDOS pc64

The desktop

A themed desktop with a window manager, a two-pane Start menu, a taskbar and a live clock. Every control works by keyboard or pointer.

The desktop: app icons, the Start button (bottom-left), the taskbar with a button per open window, and the clock.

Desktop furniture

  • Desktop icons launch apps directly. Arrange them in columns or rows, in launcher order or by name, from the Control Panel - or drag one where you want it, and it stays there across a restart. So do each app's window size and position, so the desktop you arrange is the desktop you come back to.
  • The Start button at the bottom-left (the UnoDOS brand mark and the word Start) opens the Start menu, which has two panes: the things you open on the left - every app, in one scrolling list - and the things you do to the machine on the right, grouped under Windows (Tile, Cascade, Minimize all) and Power (Restart, Shut Down). A right-click anywhere on the desktop opens the same menu at the pointer, and Ctrl+Esc toggles it from the keyboard.
  • The taskbar along the bottom shows a button for each open window, to the right of the Start button; click one to bring it to the front.
  • The system tray in the far corner holds, from left to right, a network chip (see Networking), a battery gauge on laptops, and the clock. The clock reads the current time in 24-hour or 12-hour form, and the battery gauge shows a percentage, an icon, or both - all chosen in the Control Panel.
Two panes: apps on the left, machine commands on the right. Open the menu with Ctrl+Esc, move with ↑/↓, cross between the panes with ←/→, and choose with Enter.
Why the menu is splitOpening a program and turning the computer off are not the same kind of act, so they are not in the same list. The menu always opens with the highlight on the left, in the apps, and the arrow keys will not wander into Power unless you press → to go there.

Windows

Each window has a title bar with a close box. Drag the title bar to move a window. Every app window can be resized: grab the ridged grip in the bottom-right corner, or simply drag the window's right or bottom edge (an edge drag resizes that direction only). Resizing reflows the contents live: the Editor re-wraps its document, the Files panes grow, the browser re-wraps its text and Runner3D rescales its 3D view.

Keyboard & pointer reference

The desktop is designed to be fully usable without a mouse: Tab moves between controls, the arrow keys adjust the focused control, and Enter activates it. On a laptop, the TrackPoint or touchpad moves the pointer.

KeyAction
Ctrl+EscOpen / close the Start menu
Ctrl+WClose the focused window
F2 / Ctrl+TabRaise the next open window
Tab / Shift+TabMove focus between controls in a window
↑ ↓ ← →Adjust the focused control (dropdown value, slider, spinner, list, menu)
← → (Start menu)Cross between the apps pane and the machine-commands pane
EnterActivate a button, checkbox or menu item
EscLeave a full-screen game (Runner3D)
NoteBecause a focused menu changes its value with ↑/↓, you can switch themes, fonts and resolution entirely from the keyboard. See Themes & appearance.