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KDE Goes Cross-Platform, Supports Windows and OS X
klblastone writes "The KDE desktop environment is going cross-platform with support for the Windows and Mac OS X operating systems. In addition to porting the core KDE libraries and applications, developers are also porting popular KDE-based software like the Amarok audio player and the KOffice productivity suite. New KDE binaries for Windows were released yesterday and are now available from KDE mirrors through an automated installer program. The Mac OS X port is made available via BitTorrent in universal binary format."
About 10 days ago I tested KDE4 on an OpenSUSE system, now I've just tried it on Windows too and I must say I'm astounded - many applications work just fine although they feel a bit sluggish. But the basic system is there and I believe it won't be long until we have a fully functional KDE4 shell as an alternative to Explorer. Or we could just stick to the apps and not use the whole desktop environment - in fact I'd like to use KOffice and a few other apps on my Windows box.
Considering it's such an early release, I'd say KDE4 on Windows is functional beyond any expectations, and in a couple of months I hope to be using it for real and not as a toy. Kudos to the KDE team, brilliant as usual.
Global warming is a cube.
http://www.mhall119.com
Well I tested KDE4 on my Ubuntu machine, found it too be very incomplete and buggy. I understand that Qt4 is quite easy to develop with, much like Cocoa is for OSX, so the development time may be shorter than I expect.
.0 version which was clearly still alpha software.
It's not that I want the newest up to date stuff. Amarok is hardly new, it's the underlying Qt4 that's the culprit IMO. Getting Amarok on OSX would be very nice as I could replace iTunes and switch my library over to Ogg, something I've really been wanting to do. The Ogg plugin for iTunes is a little lacking and iTunes has just gotten too "in your face" with it's store for my tastes. KDE4 has a lot of promise, I admit that and applaud them on their work. I just feel they broke a trust with the user base by releasing a
I really don't know when KDE4 will be "ready". I suspect when i can run it without trouble on my Linux laptop then it'll be very soon after that the OSX port would be stable enough.
The desktop isn't being ported, just the apps. And they will run natively as Cocoa apps. Well, they already do, but they need a lot of polishing before they are usable.
There is a good shell replacement that is similar to fluxbox: http://emergedesktop.org/. When I have to boot into windows it eases the pain.
Obligatory blog plug: http://www.caseybanner.ca/
ktorrent too! Nothing less than excellent.
sig: sauer
I've been using Dexpot 1.4 for the past few months now and it is very functional in XP. Nice customizable shortcut keys, named desktops, and free for private use; it's the most similar to a linux desktop switcher that I could find.
Love the way Ars describes Autotools!
Autotools, an intractably arcane and grotesquely anachronistic cesspool of ineffable complexity that makes even seasoned programmers nauseous.
http://virtuawin.sourceforge.net/ - obviously it isn't perfect but it is better than MSVDM. The worst incompatibility I have found is that some programs show up on every desktop.
I have mentioned this before in posts on slashdot, but I have no relationship with the project.I, like many of us, have to use MS Windows for work, but with virtuawin at least I have ONE annoyance out of the way.
Insert pithy comment here.
Per http://techbase.kde.org/Projects/KDE_on_Windows/Installation:
"By design, KDE-windows does not provide the full-blown KDE desktop, thus no KWin composite manager, KDE-specific "start" menus, Plasma desktop, etc."
Just Qt and KDE4 library based applications.
Windows has supported '/' as a path separator since about NT 3.1...
The only app that doesn't work with it is cmd.exe, because it uses that as a command line switch.
Before you drop the files (or whatever) that you're draging in Windows, look at the icon.
If it's just the expected icon, it's going to be a move.
If it has a '+' sign appended onto it, it will be a copy.
If has a shortcut arrow on it, it will be a shortcut.
And as you tread the halls of sanity, You feel so glad to be, Unable to go beyond. I have a message, From another time..
Step Five: Get a real job, or loosen up the old purse strings and pony up a couple of dollars to buy a NEW computer? C'mon, minimal systems that will blow away the hardware you must have can be had for the $200 range...heck, I hear some of them at Wallyworld Mart come WITH linux pre-installed. For a few more dollars, I saw one at Dell for $349.
You fail miserably. There are places outside your world where people get $349 *a month* for a living. And they must maintain a complete family (in fact, the average income of people in Mexico is about 515 and $2000 a year.
There are lots of these people who can not buy a new computer, and are still happily using their 486 or even 386 with windows 95 and 98. And some of them using dial up internet connections!
Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'