OK thanks. I was using the latter. I see how it works now.
But I still have to gripe a little because now the interface is contradictory. If you change a configuration and press "Apply" (there is even a choice between "Apply" and "Save") you'd expect it to be applied and have an effect there and then, not at some future point. And you'd certainly not expect to see the old setting still in effect after restarting the application.
Also, needing to navigate to two widely distant points in the menu tree to set the same characteristic (one for the current view, the other for future ones) just seems terribly disorganised and confusing.
Oh well, here I go, complaining about the dentistry of a gift-horse again, thoroughbred though it is...