One of the features that sets KDE apart from other desktop environments is the concept of Plasmoids. Plasmoids are a suite of applets that can be added to your desktop in order to show useful information, provide a service, or perhaps give you something neat to look at. For example, you can add a Plasmoid to control a media player, display a comic strip on the screen, weather information, statuses from social networking accounts, and the list goes on.

To add a new Plasmoid, right-click on an empty portion of the desktop and then click on Add widgets. Along the bottom of your screen, a horizontal list of available widgets will be displayed. To add one, drag it onto your desktop. To remove it, hover your mouse pointer over one and click on the x icon that appears in the pop-up menu. The following screenshot shows KDE's menu to add widgets:

In fact, the entire desktop itself is a Plasmoid, known as a Layout. In Mint, KDE's layout is set as Folder, which...