Objects On The Standard Desktop

In previous versions of OS/2 the icons represented applications, but in the Workplace Shell they may represent both applications and objects. The appearance of an object can be either "general" or "personal".

The general appearance is usually inherited from the class to which the object belongs. There is no way, short of programming, to change the class icons, such as folders and data files, which are shipped with the Workplace Shell. However, any icon can be individually changed, or "personalized", by the user. Icons which have been changed are stored in the Extended Attributes of the object.

When the user starts OS/2 V2.0, the following objects are visible on the desktop:

Printer

This is the default printer attached to LPT1.

This deletes any object (icon) dropped on it.

All minimized window's icons will be put into this folder for easy access.

This folder contains the objects which allow the user to tailor certain properties of the operating system, such as mouse characteristics, screen colors and fonts.

This provides the user with a quick overview of the system. Details are found in the folder "Information".

Several objects containing information, like Tutorial and Command Reference, are held in this folder.

This object provides an index to all on-line documentation.

The contents of this folder allow the user to create new files, folders, programs and various other objects.

This container contains a directory listing of the diskette in drive A:.

Most data objects are presented to the user in folders, which act as containers to logically group sets of objects. The objects within a folder may be rearranged by the user, and objects may be moved or duplicated between folders, allowing users to customize the desktop to suit their own working style. A user may place commonly accessed objects onto the desktop itself to avoid having to open a folder to access the required object. A typical example of a desktop is shown in Figure "System Setup".