While the first thing I did when I got my Eee PC was figure out how to enable a full KDE desktop, there is something appealing about the "easy mode" interface that ships with the unit. Asus has designed the Eee PC to be easy to use even if you don't know a thing about computers. Sure, it's a bit silly that you have to click a button marked "web" to launch Firefox, but honestly, does it matter what the name of the tools that you use to browse the internet is, as long as it works?

But if you want to add programs that didn't come with the Eee PC without enabling the advanced desktop, you're going to have to muck around a bit. First of all, you need to pull up a terminal to use apt-get or launch the Synaptic Package Manager. And then once you install your applications, the shortcuts won't show up on your desktop. You could start playing with your configuration files, or you could run Asus Launcher Tools.

The application makes it easy to add icons to your Asus Launcher tabs. You can also refresh the Launcher without closing your programs. Asus Launcher Tools version 0.2 doesn't do much more than that at the moment, but it could make life a whole lot simpler for anyone who wants to add a few programs to their Eee PC but doesn't want to seriously modify their desktop environment.

[via eeeUser forums]