Only one program showing in the top panel

Question

I just started using Gnome today and I'm having a stupid difficulty to understand why, when I have more then one program open I can't see it on my top bar.

To change between applications, I have to tab all time and I really don't like it.

What am I doing wrong?

I'm using Ubuntu 11.10

Thanks in advance for any help.

Answer 1

Gnome-Shell is a very different work-flow compared to the traditional desktops like the previous Gnome-2 interface.

You can see all your running apps by clicking the Activities menu option.

Fortunately, there is the ability to "extend" the interface through extensions

For example you can install "frippery bottom panel" to have a more traditional panel to choose your running applications

or you could have a "Dock" which appears and disappears on the right-hand side of the screen depending if you position your mouse in that area.

If you dont want to use extensions you could use tint2:

sudo apt-get install tint2

add tint2 to your startup applications

Answer 2

I don't have any insight into why the gnome-shell devs designed window management the way they did, but I do have two functional solutions for you, the first of which my may have already noticed.

The most efficient way to navigate vanilla gnome-shell is simply through the overview, which depending on your configuration can be achieved by mousing over the hot-zone in the upper left corner (or wherever you may have manually placed it), clicking the activities icon in the upper left corner, or pressing super.

If you're looking for a more legacy gnome environment, I would recommend installing the Bottom Panel Extension

Hope this helps.