Practical uses for KDE Plasma Activities

Activities Vs. Virtual Desktops

These examples demonstrate some of the basic ways that Activities can expand and improve your desktop environment. However, if you are like most people, you might be uncertain how Activities differ from virtual desktops, except for having different tools for navigating them. The difference is especially obscure in distributions that are still using Plasma 4, in which virtual desktops can be configured independently – a feature that has yet to find its way into Plasma 5.

The answer is that Activities have the same relation to virtual desktops as directories have to files. In other words, they are a higher level of organization. Each Activity has its own virtual desktops and, in Plasma 5 is more specialized and customizable than its virtual desktops.

Making full use of Activities means analyzing how you use computers. Often, it means structuring desktop environments in terms of tasks, rather than applications. It can also mean much more customization of wallpaper and launcher icons than the classical desktop requires.

However, like all customization, the payoff is an increased ability to work and navigate more efficiently and with fewer distractions. Activities require thought and preparation, but once you start using them, you are likely to feel half-crippled when using a desktop environment that lacks them.