Worked with linux servers plenty with a development job but new to running at home and using a desktop interface. I'm using RDP to access the machine and have run into a few issues I'm not sure how to solve.

First, I'm using Mate and I've noticed issues with have the panel/task bar disappearing. When the machine first boots my user account is logged in and if I then RDP into the machine, the panel doesn't show. If I go to the machine physically and logout, then when I RDP in I can see the panel, but that's a hassle. Seems only one instance of the panel with run. Do I need to create a different user to use with RDP to avoid this? Other options?

Second, physically working on the machine I can go into the network settings and make changes. However when I RDP into the machine - using the same user account - the widget to let me see and edit the details of the network interface is disabled. Why is it that a physical session seems to have sudo access through the UI but an RDP session doesn't? Can I change this too?