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KDE 4.0 Is Out

Posted by kdawson on from the years-in-the-making dept.

Many users wrote to alert us that KDE 4.0 has been released. Here's Computerworld Australia's take on the release KDE 4.0 is based on the Qt4 toolkit, which brings significant enhancements in the way memory is used. "So it ends up making KDE less resource intensive than KDE 3, which is quite an improvement," according to Australian KDE developer Hamish Rodda, who calls the new architecture "future-proof." Computerworld notes that developers are already at work porting the new environment to Windows and the Mac.

11 of 165 comments (clear)

  1. I've been served by minginqunt · · Score: 5, Funny

    Australian KDE developer Hamish Rodda, who calls the new architecture "future-proof."

    That sounds like a challenge to me.
    Oh, it's on.

    Love,

    The Future.

  2. Why only 4 words on the main page? by donscarletti · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm a keen and loyal Gnome user and a former Gnome developer.

    I think the 4.0 release of KDE deserves an un-abbreviated summary on the front page.

    Congratulations on this milestone guys, keep up your work.

    --
    When Argumentum ad Hominem falls short, try Argumentum ad Matrem
    1. Re:Why only 4 words on the main page? by xtracto · · Score: 4, Informative

      I think the summary at OSNews had it right. KDE 4.0 is not KDE 4 per-se, this release represents the technology backend release (the middleware) to developers all over the world. It is from now on that developers should get attention to KDE 4.0 and start porting or writing applications for it.

      --
      Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
  3. Configurable? by debilo · · Score: 4, Informative

    Not having tested any of the betas or release candidates, but having seen countless stunning screenshots, I was anxious to try it out. Just installed it on Kubuntu, and to my dismay I found it to be a bit of a letdown. There's hardly any options to customise the desktop/menu/taskbar or general behavior, it seems to lack most widgets found in KDE3, and I have seen no option to add your own non-officially packaged apps as an icon to the desktop/taskbar.

    The menu is a bit awkward to navigate, and again there are hardly any options to change the default behavior or look. I know they promised more features for 4.1 or 4.2/3, but I was still a little shocked as to how completely barebone it felt compared to KDE3, which I will continue to use for the time being.

    Anyways, I'd still like to thank the KDE team for their effort, and I'm looking forward to using KDE4 once it has been optimised.

    1. Re:Configurable? by debilo · · Score: 5, Funny

      Maybe you should get work done instead of masturbating with your desktop environment. Other than changing the background image and window color scheme, how much more diddling do you need ?
      Ah, a GNOME user!
    2. Re:Configurable? by Bralkein · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yeah, KDE4 is definitely being developed according to the "release early, release often" philosophy here. For months now the word has been that KDE 4.0 will not completely realise all of the hopes for KDE4 as a long-term project, rather it is targeted towards enthusiasts and developers. I think it's a fairly good idea, because the ball needs to get rolling in order to build activity and interest around the new platform. Aaron Seigo, a high-profile KDE developer made this blog post which clears up a lot of the confusion around this 4.0 release.

      As I've mentioned elsewhere, KDE4 is still making rapid progress, and in the mean time KDE3 is still a great desktop. When KDE4 is ready for mass consumption (hopefully 4.1 will be better in this regard, scheduled for 6 months or so), the Linux distributors will pick it up and start delivering it as a supported option. Until then, this first release still shows a great deal of progress, and I think the developers can definitely justify a bit of self-satisfaction!

    3. Re:Configurable? by MrNemesis · · Score: 4, Interesting

      KDE without configuration options? What's to differentiate it from GNOME?!

      Yes, I am only joking. But there's no way I'm shifting to KDE4 until it has at least the level of beautiful tweakery that by beloved KDE3 has. When I tried out one of the RC's (more deserving of the "alpha" moniker if you ask me), I too was similarly astounded at the lack of options for even changing basic things like the colour of the panel (I tend to keep my desktop in neutral, low-contrast colours and the big'n'shiny'n'curvy look of the default KDE4 is about as appealing to me as regurgitating a whole lobster).

      I'll also reiterate my stance on widgets - No. Fucking. Way. Why should I minimise every app I have just to be able to see an OpenGL clock or something useless? If it deserves to be treated as an app, then treat it as an app rather than desktop eye candy and give it a taskbar slot or a system tray icon. My desktop is visible for all of every three seconds every time I log in, otherwise it's covered with whatever app(s) I'm using at the time - I don't see the point in using your desktop as anything other than a workspace, your filesystem is where the eye candy (applications and files) lives.

      I find Kickoff awkward; Lancelot IMHO is a much nicer K-menu replacement. I'd still like there to be an option for there to be a simple ye olde style menu as well.

      I must be a bit of a luddite or something...

      --
      Moderation Total: -1 Troll, +3 Goat
  4. More than Memory by Assembler · · Score: 5, Informative

    The KDE4.0 release is about so much more than memory usage!

    o. Complete library overhaul
    o. Complete graphical overhaul
    o. Simplification (see Dolphin)
    o. New desktop, taskbar, dashboard

    The changes to a desktop environment don't get any bigger than that. I'm very surprised that the article summary only seems to mention memory usage.

  5. Re:This Could Be The Worst Thing For KDE by teslar · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This should have been a KDE 3.9 release.
    Absolutely not - KDE4.0 is a completely new thing and therefore by definition not part of the KDE 3.x family. It coexists for now in parallel with KDE3, it is not sequential improvement.

    No, the sad truth is, this should have been KDE4 Beta 1. It's not finished, it's been rushed out. I like KDE and I appreciate that KDE4 is going to be very cool eventually, but this is not the time. And rushing products out before they are finished, saying that the real stuff will turn up in the .1 release, well that kinda reminds me of another company, except they call the .1 release 'Service Pack 1'.

    Again, let's be clear about this - KDE4 is gonna kick some ass eventually, but releasing it in its current state has been a big mistake.
  6. Re:This Could Be The Worst Thing For KDE by teslar · · Score: 5, Interesting

    at the same time they are clearly advertising that the KDE 4.0 desktop is probably not ready for general use on most people's desktops.
    No, they're not. The /. crowd knows about it because enough of us read kde-devel and all the flaming between devs on whether or not to release has come up in every KDE4-related story here.

    But consider Joe Average, the non-technical guy who decides to ditch Windows in favour of Linux, since he's read a few good things about it and all that. Exactly the kind of user everyone feels Linux should be targetting if it is ever to achieve critical mass. Assume for the sake of the argument, that he installs Kubuntu. His current KDE version - and he is probably aware of it, or will find out very soon - is 3.5.8. Now he visits kubuntu.com. The site tells it in no uncertain terms that "KDE4 is the start of something amazing" and to "be free with KDE4".

    If that's not enough to make him install KDE4 without second thought, he can visit kde.org and learn, again, to be free and that the " KDE Project Ships Fourth Major Version of cutting edge Free Software Desktop". He also learns that The KDE 4 Libraries have seen major improvements in almost all areas. and that the KDE 4 Desktop has gained some major new capabilities. and so on. Nowhere immediately obvious does it say that it is not, in fact, ready, feature complete or stable.

    So, what happens to Joe Average? He installs KDE4, tries out a few things, finds it broken in several places, not working as expected in others and not configurable where he may want it to be configurable. Compared to WinXP, it will feel to him as a significant step backwards (probably more because of the brokenness than the lack of features compared to KDE3). In the end, he'll just go back to Windows because, clearly Linux isn't there yet.

    Bottom line, this should have been a Beta and it should have clearly been advertised as such, not via comments on some mailing list but clearly visible within the main announcement.
  7. Yay, KDE4 by z0M6 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Unlike the bunch here that cries "It should be called KDE 4.0 Beta 1", I believe that it should be called KDE 4.0. It signals that the base technology is ready and it is time for adoption by a larger mass than what the release candidates had. Remember that KDE 3.5.8 is a matured product, KDE 4.0 is not. It doesn't happen over night.

    Whiners aside, yay, KDE 4.0 is here. Congratulations everyone!