The middle part of the panel is dedicated to window buttons for open applications.
On the far right, you will see indicators and a clock.

On the desktop you will see icons that can be used to access some of the most common places on your system. In the Settings Manager you will find many tools to change this default desktop.

Most of the tools to customise your desktop to your liking will be found at the top in the Personal section. For quick visible changes to your desktop, play with the Panel, Theme Configuration, Appearance and Window Manager tools.

# The Xubuntu desktop