You certainly have a small bar at the bottom of your screen... by right-clicking on it you can add some things to this bar -- maybe your missing the so-called "System Tray". It's the part of the bar where tools like simICQ, Kopete, etc usually are to be found.
MICHAEL JACKSON SUPPORTER!
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Notebook:
Peacock Freeliner XP2500+, 512MB DDR RAM, ATI Radeon 9600 Mobility(M10), 40GB, SuSe 9.1
Server:
AMD Athlon 750MHz, 384MB SD-RAM, ATI Rage 128, 30GB+80GB, SuSe 9.1