Q I'm just starting to use an Aspire One with Ubuntu 8.10. However, I'm having a few problems with the screen shape. I was completely unable to configure Evolution mail because the second page's Continue button was off the bottom of the screen. After that, I gave up and installed Thunderbird. But that's not all - this correspondence was prompted by my inability to use Inkscape on the machine. Currently, the controls at the top and bottom of the screen just seem to move the page up or down. With all that in mind, how can I get program's windows to match up to the available screen space?
A Unfortunately, some programs are just not netbook-friendly, having default or minimum window sizes that won't fit onto a smaller screen. Thankfully, there are a number of steps you can take to alleviate this problem. Sometimes it's just the default window size that's too big and pressing the Maximise window button will rearrange the window to fit.
The next step is to reduce the size of any menus or task bars on your screen, making more room for the program itself. You can do a similar job in individual programs - smaller fonts and icons will mean the program needs smaller windows to run effectively. Some programs also have a full-screen mode, where the window's borders and gadgets are dispensed with entirely. We generally run Firefox like this on netbooks to give more space to the web content.
Of course, all of this assumes that you're able to reach the various controls to change your settings, which takes us back to your original problem. Windows can be dragged partially off the screen, so you can drag a window upwards to get at the buttons at the bottom. You can't do this by dragging the title bar, because that's what you need off the screen and out of reach. Instead, hold down the Alt key and click and drag anywhere in the window's interior. With a combination of these methods, you should be able to get most programs to fit on the Aspire One's display.