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KDE 4.4 Released Alongside Website Redesign
Cryophallion writes "KDE 4.4.0 has finally been released, along with a redesign of the KDE.org website. New features include tabbed windows, improved desktop search and social desktop features. 'Major new technologies have been introduced, including social networking and online collaboration features, a new netbook-oriented interface and infrastructural innovations such as the KAuth authentication framework. According to KDE's bug-tracking system, 7293 bugs have been fixed and 1433 new feature requests were implemented.' A feature guide is also available."
I think 4.3 is pretty great. I'm running 4.3.5 on Fedora 12 and it's probably my favorite KDE yet. Sure they had to step back to move forward, but sometimes that is absolutely necessary if the current foundation is impossible to support the desired end state.
Fortunately Linux users have a lot of choices, and it will cost you nothing more than time and bandwidth to see if you want to return to KDE or stay on Gnome. Or don't put even that into it and keep using what works for you. Not sure why anyone has to "lay low" or anything like it.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
Wow almost a meg for the front png file slide4.png ... easy to understand why site inst responding already....
The KDE team isn't responsible for what happened to Amarok, that is a seperate project.
I totally agree though, Amarok turned into complete and utter shit, I used to love Amarok but now I just use xmms2. KDE 4.x has been perfectly usable since 4.3 imho, though I've been using it since 4.1.
"linux is just DOS with a UNIX like syntax" -- Galactic Dominator (944134)
KDE 4 (since 4.2) has been best desktop environment i have ever used. Kubuntu releases are not that good but they get the job done. I really did like KDE 3.5, but now i don't miss it at all. It seems that in every new KDE release, there are tons of new features that nobody really finds or notices, and still they are very important tiny things that make it faster and easier to use.
You can use KDE 4.4 with F12 right now using the Redhat KDE testing repos: http://kde-redhat.sourceforge.net/
I haven't bothered checking, but I believe that generally Fedora will wait for the next release to upgrade KDE 4.x numbers, so you may have to wait for F13 to actually get it from Fedora.
"linux is just DOS with a UNIX like syntax" -- Galactic Dominator (944134)
KDE 4 doesn't seem bad to me anymore. I tried 4.0 and it was a fairly miserable experience. UI issues I could forgive, but not coupled with the constant crashes. I still think the devs should be ashamed for labeling that a release version. 4.1. was slightly better. Lacking configuration options and a bunch of UI stuff, but generally more stable. KDE 4.2. was, finally, something usable and the dev team also said that it's an okay choice for "end users" and not just "enthusiasts". I've been happily using 4.3. since its release and that's a very nice desktop environment, though I do hate the changes to Amarok.
Kubuntu is a separate issue. The Ubuntu project has always been very Gnome-centric, which is one of the things I dislike about the approach to Ubuntu. The K versions have always felt like an afterthought, including the ones that predate KDE4. I wouldn't really say that Kubuntu sucks but it sure seems to implement KDE worse than numerous other distros do.
The question is, should we even bother to look at this release?
Yes, you should. Not only Plasma has become a viable replacement of the old desktop, it has improved to the point where I would miss it in a KDE3/Gnome desktop. The netbook plasmoid is interesting not only because it's better for netbooks, it's a proof of how flexible the whole infrastructure is. You even can switch your desktop to the netbook plasmoid in the desktop preferences (it's not only useful for netbooks, newbie users could use it aswell in workstations).
Amarok dropped the new ugly UI, and went back to a UI like the one they had in the 1.x series.
Nepomuk not only it is becoming a cool tool, it is also starting to allow to do today the same kind of things Gnome's zeitgeist will do
External projects like Koffice 2, K3B or Gwenview are stabilizing after the switch to KDE4....
I'm afraid that the KDE brand is ruined only in the head of people who haven't bothered to look at how cool KDE4 is...
I agree with what you said about amarok.
amarok 2.x is simply godamn awfull. makes even iTunes look good.
the interface is confusing, can't get rid of that ridiculous area in the middle
You can rearrange the panels (including removal of the middle panel) in Amarok 2.2.
There's no such thing as a taskbar. There are Plasma panels, and these can be located pretty much anywhere you want. Just add a new panel to the top of the screen and put whatever widgets in there that you want.
You're judging KDE from Kubuntu? You know that Kubuntu's KDE is one of the worst out of all the distro's right? Yes, KDE on one distro is a different experience from another. Personally, I had the best KDE experience running Archlinux. I also used Kubuntu and have thought their KDE was pretty bad.
try shift-f1 (or possibly shift-f3).
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
I'm also getting pissed at dolphin either. the old konqueror browser|file manager was pretty decent. dolphin OTOH plain sucks, from the way it displays stuff in detailed view, the impossibility of reordering the columns, how the tree view pane keeps moving the directory tree left and right by itself. again, any sugestions of a replacement that looks/feels more like the old konqueror will welcome.
Right click on a folder, go into properties, click on the wrench & screwdriver icon (settings?), and remove Dolphin from the list of apps to open folders with. Move Konqueror up to the top of the list. Click 'okay' and wait for the system to update the configuration. Done.
For the first problem, the 'save settings' has been replaced by the profile system. When you modify the settings your actually changing the current profile
OK, so is there a way to make it *not* change the profile?
I can't see a use case for having a fixed size
Using multiple terminals, when I want to see what's going on in them at the same time. Also, some terminal apps are "optimised" for 80x24 or 80x25 (and some don't display properly when using the "wrong" size.)
IIRC the 'save window size' thing is done outside the application
It's not a window manager thing - the app requests a specific size when you open it (which is why in 3.5, you can save the settings from the menubar, and why "Width" and "Height" appear in the config file.)
I suppose I could force the windows to open at a specific size with the "Window-specific settings" control panel, but that seems like a huge hack.. I guess if I've got no choice I'll try it... thanks for the idea.
KDE hasn't duplicated the feature; it was being worked on long before Gnome Shell was even conceived.
"Oppression and harassment is a small price to pay to live in the land of the free." -- Montgomery Burns.
Menubar: View -> uncheck "Lock Layout" -> uncheck "Context".
Done.
Seriously, make an effort.
I'd tell a UDP joke, but you may not get it. I'd tell a TCP joke, but I'd have to keep repeating it until you got it.
I run weekly snapshot releases of KDE on openSUSE. I've been doing so for probably the past 2 years.
My wife has the stock KDE 4.3 packages that shipped on the openSUSE 11.2 DVD, and she hasn't complained once about a single crash, ever, except for Flash in Firefox. (She complains about that a great deal).
The only thing that seems to crash for me is Nepomuk for the most part. I do get an occassional Plasma crash, usually when I'm changing the panel on a new install. Once I'm done setting up my panel, I never seem to get crashes ever again. It runs pretty extremely stable for me.
I've done plenty of openSUSE installs for friends and family this year with Intel, Nvidia, and ATI graphics cards.
I'm curious what the differences are between what we're running, and what we're doing.
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
Or open System Settings and select Default Applications. Choose file manager and select Konqueror, then press Apply.
Actually, it looks like 4.4 is still in the kde-unstable repo (4.4.0-1). I'm surprised it's not in -testing yet, I'm used to running -testing and hearing about releases here a few weeks after I've been updated.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
> I'm just asking for a tiny fraction of that effort put toward helping me understand how to develop apps for it.
techbase.kde.org
and it's an open wiki with a large number of people contributing to it.
> I'd be happy to help with docs, but I need some guidance.
you can find many of us on irc.freenode.net in #kde-devel and there are all the mailing lists.
it wasn't talled "the taskbar" in KDE 2 or KDE 3 either. :) in fact, Plasma calls them exactly what they were called in KDE 2 and 3: panels. the "taskbar" has always referred to the windows picker/manager. personally, i wish we'd always called it something like "windows" that was a bit more obvious.
but yes, in this case it's actually completely consistent with what's always been there.
sorry to burst your bubble.
To each their own. I won't use Gnome because Gnome doesn't give me enough options to run the desktop I want. I want configuration options.
That being said, almost every single app in KDE 4 land was redesigned to clean up the interface and make every menu and dialog look simpler. In most cases, they accomplished this without losing functionality. In many cases, they expanded functionality.
LinuxToday.com had some articles recently breaking down the system settings for KDE 4.3. If you haven't used KDE since 3, you should at least give it a look.
http://linuxtoday.com/infrastructure/2010020300135OSKE
http://linuxtoday.com/infrastructure/2010020800735OSKE
http://linuxtoday.com/infrastructure/2010020802435OSHLKE
I don't keep the defaults with the KDE desktop. With a fresh install I change my desktop containment/activity to Folder View, and then move on to customizing the panel. I could scream about the defaults, but I'm content having the freedom to customize it exactly how I want it. I assume other users prefer different settings. Why force them into the defaults I want?
The fact that KDE allows for different containments/activities for your desktop shell is in and of itself pretty amazing.
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
techbase.kde.org
I'm aware of techbase. It's not really helpful. Let me give an example. Suppose I want to write a Plasmoid. Okay, let's start at techbase.kde.org. Under "Discover" I click on "Developing with KDE." Fine so far. Now what do I click? It's hard to say -- I want an API reference. Nevertheless, I figure out that I need to click on "KDE Architecture." Okay, now I click on "KDE 4 Architecture Overview." Ooh, I finally see a link to "Plasma - the Desktop." I click it.
Now, I have three choices. The most logical is the link called "API." I click that, and now all of a sudden I need to shift my focus to the left hand column, where I finally locate "Plasma/Applets." I click it. I get this useless page. But hey, there's a link to Plasma again! I click it, and I get this.
Guys, this is not documentation.
Seriously. Provide a damn option to get rid of the cashew. I realize suse has put this option in, but it's a little annoying that the KDE team refuses to add that option in (at least as far as 4.3) given the overwhelming negative feedback they've received. The only person in the world who likes that stupid cashew is Aaron Seigo.
Not only do I have my "taskbar" at the top, set to autohide, but I have it perfectly sized so that the window menu on the left side, and the min/max/exit buttons on the right side are still exposed when the taskbar is showing, so I don't accidently hit the taskbar when I'm tossing my mouse into the corner of my screen. Suck it, Gnome.
You couldn't download it from them without seeing the warnings. You couldn't install it from a distro without seeing the same warnings. They made it clear it wasn't even "alpha" quality, it was just a snapshot to show the new direction they were taking, because people were asking to see it.
I don't believe that is correct. Here is the KDE4.0 release announcement:
http://www.kde.org/announcements/4.0/
Not a thing about being a testing or development version. And I believe you could have downloaded and compiled it without any warnings. Certainly there were no warnings when I added the extra software repository in ubuntu and installed it that way.
While Debian is the source of many *buntu packages, Kubuntu have their own KDE packages, they are completely separate from Debian's KDE packages. So don't badmouth Debian KDE just because Kubuntu suck. Debian's is one of the most vanilla and well working KDE versions.