As discussed earlier, MATE's application launcher is one of the bigger differences between it and Cinnamon. The application launcher consists of four main sections. The first section, Places, on the upper-left corner of the window, lists filesystem locations, such as Computer, Home Folder, Network, Desktop, and Trash. Clicking on any of these items will open the Caja file manager with the contents of the chosen item. Directly underneath the Places section is System, which gives you quick access to managing your software, accessing the Control Center, opening a terminal, and ending your session.

In the middle section of the window, we have a section of the launcher dedicated to Applications. Installed applications are categorized into sections such as Internet, Office, Sound & Video, and so on. The topmost category, All, displays all of the installed applications in a single list in case you're unsure which category it falls under. As you peruse the categories...