You can customize many of the characteristics of the GNOME Desktop. The customization of each aspect of the GNOME Desktop is controlled by a dedicated software tool that is called a preference tool. This section describes how to configure the GNOME Desktop in the following chapters. Starting Preference ToolsRead this chapter to find out how to start the preference tools in the GNOME Desktop.Using Preference ToolsRead this chapter to find out how to use the preference tools to customize the GNOME Desktop. This chapter describes all the options in each of the preference tools.&plaingnomestartpreftools;&goscustdesk;