Minimizing windows in Gnome (Metacity)

[Tudor Vinereanu <tudorv eircom net>]

Hi All,

I'm a new Gnome user, and very impressed with it! I've installed Gnome
2.2.1, having been using 1.4 before that, and it's the sweetest
desktop environment I've seen so far...

Now, I've been using Solaris with CDE running on Sun machines for a
good few years now, and I like the way you can minimize windows on the
desktop, as opposed to a panel. I wonder if one could do the same with
Gnome? I got used to having the icons on the desktop and being able to
minimize/maximize quickly with the Open key (unfortunately absent from
a PC keyboard). I assume if I'd be able minimize windows on the
desktop, I could bind some key to mimic the Open key on the Sun
keyboard (e.g. Windows logo).

I'm using Metacity (2.4.34) as window manager, and the versions of
Gnome packages are as per 2.2.1 release.

I'd appreciate any solutions/suggestions you may have, as RTFM/Google
didn't give me any clues.

Thanks,
Tudor