GNOME Panel
GNOME Fallback Mode in GNOME 3.0 displaying the panels at the top and bottom of the desktop
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| Developer(s) | GNOME |
|---|---|
| Stable release |
3.18.1
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| Operating system | Unix-like |
| Platform | GNOME |
| Type | |
| License | GNU Lesser General Public License |
| Website | |
GNOME Panel is a highly configurable launcher and taskbar for GNOME. It formed a core part of the GNOME desktop in versions 1.x and 2.x. It has been replaced in GNOME 3.x by default with GNOME Shell, which only works with the Mutter window manager.
GNOME Panel served as Fallback Mode when Mutter could not be executed until GNOME 3.8, where it was replaced with a suite of officially supported GNOME extensions named 'GNOME Classic'. Now it is part of GNOME Flashback, a session for GNOME 3 which provides a similar user experience to the Gnome 2.x series sessions.
By default, GNOME Flashback contains two panels (one on the top, and one to its opposite on the bottom) spanning the width of the screen.
The top panel usually contains navigation menus labeled "Applications" and "Places" in that order, as the "System" menu from GNOME 2.x has been replaced by a control panel in GNOME 3.x. These menus hold links to common applications and areas of the file system, respectively.
A user menu placed on the opposite side of the screen, which has been available since GNOME 2.14 but has become more prominent in GNOME 3.x, holds access to account and system settings as well as options to log out, switch user, and shut down the computer.
The top panel usually contains a clock/calendar and a notification area, which can double as a sort of dock, as well. The bottom panel is commonly empty by default (other than a set of buttons to navigate between desktops) due to its use in the navigation between windows (windows minimize to the bottom panel by default).
Users can populate these panels with other completely customizable menus and buttons, including new menus, search boxes, and icons, with the icons in particular (called launchers) performing functions similar to the quick-launch feature found in the Microsoft Windows 98–Vista taskbar. GNOME 2.x accomplishes this via right-clicking on an applet and selecting options from a menu; in GNOME 3.x, one must press the Alt key while right-clicking to attain the same functionality.
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