Strange minimize behavior

[Croombe F. Pensom]

I have just reinstalled Fedora 8 and most things seem to be working OK.
BUT, when I am a user, when I minimize an application, instead of having
it appear as a name in my task bar, it disappears and I can no longer
find it. I know it's there because, if I go to log out, these "lost"
applications are all listed as the logging out procedure executes.

This behavior does not occur if I am logged in as root.

Clearly, I have accidentally either activated or deactivated something I
should not have but I have not the faintest idea what. I have been
through every configuration file I can see but can identify NOTHING that
seems to be related to this problem. I am going squirrely looking at all
these obscure files!

Any advice which can help me resolve this irritating behavior WILL BE
MUCH APPRECIATED.

CroombeFP