I'm a newbie...like ubuntu super-newbie that ended up using mandriva because fixing my drivers in ubuntu was a headache (I have an HP pavillion 9500 laptop). anyway - I hope im in the right place!

with that said....

1) how do i resize kicker? i want it to look like the windows toolbar when it's resized - showing two rows of windows open and the full date on top of the time. i can't resize it with my mouse. im running Mandriva Spring 2008.1 One/KDE 3.5

2) how do I install avant window manager (or anything that comes like that, for that matter - but specifically avant)? im used to things that come from the interwebs in exes and work after i hit okay a couple times.

thx

Welcome aboard!

1) - right click on the bar and go to "Configure Panel". There are boatloads of things you can configure here, including size.

2) - In general you can say this: the first thing you install on Mandriva, it will seem like it's much more complicated and confusing, and why can't I just get an exe from the web and double click it. The second thing you install on Mandriva, then you realise how cool the system i and actually it's much much easier than searching for exes on the web.
Almost all the apps you'll ever want are just waiting for you in the repositories, without you having to hunt for them, but the first time in you'll have to set up these repositories. Fortunately if you're running 2008.1 this step just got a whole lot easier.

In the menu, go to "Install and update software" (I think it's called that, but you'll see it anyway). The tool will ask if you want to set up repositories, and you say yes, you want full sources. You select a server near you, and it will load a list of all the software you can get. And it's a biiiiiiig list!
Then when you want avant you just search for "avant" or "awn", make sure the dropdown is set to "All" (not "Packages with GUI"), select the ones you want, and press ok a few times

i didnt know about that install thing - that made things alot easier. i went to the avant website and got a whole bunch of stuff i looked like i needed to compile. i have no clue, how or what i needed to comile tho.

still, i couldnt figure out how to make the taskbar fatter, just longer or shorter = /

but avant is working, i just wanted something where i could see all my applications without the toolbar getting cluttered with windows (hence the fattening)

thx!

Compiling applications is only (!) done if no precompiled packages (like .rpm) are available for the installation process. Compiling is advanced stuff and you shouldn't bother with it before learning the basics about your Linux system.

The Mandriva repositories store over 16 000 software packages. The possibility that you actually have to compile software yourself is quite minimal. I haven't compiled anything during at least the last three years.

When you are at the taskbar-config-dialogue, there is an option to set the size of the panel (very small, small, normal, big, custom). It is the same window, where you can also define if you want the panel on top, on the left, on the right or whereever on your monitor. Just search a bit. You will find it.