Task switcher in KDE is used to configure the behavior for navigating through windows. It has two modes, main and alternative. By default, the task switcher in main mode uses Alt+Tab to switch between different windows (from left to right) and uses Alt+Shift+Backtab to switch in a reverse order. And the default effect for this mode is “Layout based switcher”, which is similar to the window navigating behavior on Microsoft Windows.

User can further select one from several existing layouts like the following. It can be seen that compared to both Windows and Macintosh operating systems, Linux provides more freedom and flexibility to suit various users with diversified tastes.

Besides the familiar Altl+Tab window navigating operation, user can specify another one in the alternative mode. Here, the Win+Tab behavior on Windows 7 can be simulated, which is called “Flip Switch” in KDE task switcher (Note: the Win key is called Meta in KDE). In addition, there are more choices for the user. For example, the one I‘m using is “Cover Switch”. It has the following appearance:

Similar to the “Layout based switch”, windows can also be switched in reversed order in “Cover Switch” mode. However, when I try to assign Meta+Shift+Backtab shortcut to this operation, only the key combination, Meta+Shift+Tab, can be captured, and there is no way to find the Backtab key on the keyboard. The Meta+Shift+Tab can only call out the cover interface and switch to the next window in reverse order, and it cannot be used to continuously cycle through each window. The only way to assign the key combination Meta+Shift+Backtab to reverse cover switch is:

first, log off the current session;

second, manually edit the corresponding line in the file ~/.kde/share/config/kglobalshortcutsrc;

finally, go back to X environment and login again.