The "Look"

[Kami_Diesel]

This is my first time really getting into linux, i have done some research before i installed linux, but really not the kind that is useful :p. i looked on many site that show screen shot of other linux user's desktops. They all look so awesome, then i look at mine and it not quite to same, hehe. anyway, my question is, there's a bar on the side and top of most desktops i think it says Libra on the top. it seems to show the CPU, Proc, and memory the computer is using at the moment. Others have weather readings as well. Is that a program or a part of the distro? Im using Mandrake 7.2, can i get that bar on my comp?

[TheGimp]

gkrellm (http://web.wt.net/~billw/gkrellm/gkrellm.html) ?

[Pras]

Sure, you can do pretty much anything you want with GNU/Linux. The window manager you are describing sounds like 'windowmaker', however, a lot of other ones also have similar apps. They are called 'dock-apps' under windowmaker because they become part of the system dock - a place where icons are organized together.

The cpu/memory info program may have been something like xosview or WMMon. The weather one could have been wmweather, which I use myself. There are a countless number of apps that you can use. Here is a link for a good dockapp repository: http://www.bensinclair.com/dockapp/

There are also other window managers like enlightenment, icewm, fvwm, etc. Mandrake comes with all of these, I believe. Check your CDs for these apps. Good luck!