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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?
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...