How to customise the desktop and interface on the N800 and N810

The desktop and interface of the N800 and N810 internet tablets can be customised quite a bit. The more extreme customisations require technical knowledge, but we're going to look at the simple customsations that anyone can do.

How to add, remove and arrange applets on the desktop
The various boxes you may see on the desktop are called applets, and they let you access specific features of the tablet directly. Some applets are built into the tablet, while others are added if you install certain applications.

All applets can be added or removed from the desktop by clicking on the "Home" menu at the top of the screen and clicking on "Select Applets". You'll see a list of all the desktop applets currently installed on the tablet, and to add one you just tick the box next to it. To remove an applet from the desktop you just untick its box.

Once an applet is on the desktop, it can be moved about by touching and dragging it. When it's in the right place, let go. You can drop applets on top of each other if you want, though this can look rather confusing. Touching the edge of an overlapping applet puts it on top of the other applet.

Some applets can also be resized, for example the Google search box can be stretched horizontally by touching and dragging its right edge, and the RSS feed reader box can be resized by touching its bottom right hand corner.

When you've touched an applet in the correct manner to move it or resize it, a white box will appear round it, and when you let go the white box disappears.

How to change the desktop wallpaper
Click here to see our tutorial on customising the wallpaper.

How to change the interface theme
The N800 and N810 come with four themes built-in, which change the look of the menus, icon bars, and edges of windows.

You can change the current theme by clicking on the desktop's "Home" menu, then "Set Theme", click on the theme you want, click on "Apply" and click on "Close". The default theme is called Echo.

If you want to add extra themes, please click here to see our tutorial on how to do so.

How to rearrange the side icons, edit the Applications menu and edit the status bar
The tablet's Panels menu lets you rearrange the positions of the three icons at the right side of the screen, edit the contents of the Applications menu, and also choose which icons are displayed on the status bar at the top.

Here's how you access the Panels menu:

1. Click on the Applications menu (the icon with the three green squares).

2. Click on Settings.

3. Click on Control Panel.

4. Double-click on Panels (it's right at the bottom of the screen).

To rearrange the three main icons, just press the two arrows in the middle of the Panels box.

To edit the contents of the Applications menu, click on the "Organise" button.

To choose which icons can appear on the status bar, click on the "Status Bar" tab at the top of the Panels box.

When you've finished, click on "OK" to save changes, or "Cancel" to abandon changes. To exit the Control Panel click on the X in the top right hand corner.