Posted 27 Jan 2009 — by Arun
Category Linux
KDE team has released KDE 4.2. There are lots of improvements and bug fixes in KDE 4.2. I have been using KDE 4.2 from beta and it’s much more stable and usable than KDE 4.0 and KDE 3.x series. Here are some of the improvements KDE 4.2 brings:
- Further refinement of the Plasma desktop interface makes organizing your workspace easier. New and improved applets include a Quicklauncher, weather information, newsfeeds, comics, quick file sharing via “pastebin” services.
- The Plasma Panel now groups tasks and display multiple rows.
- The panel can now automatically hide in order to free up screen space.
- KWin employs motion physics to give a natural feel to old and new effects like the “Cube” and “Magic Lamp”.
- File management becomes faster and more efficient.
- KMail’s email list views have been reworked by a Google Summer of Code student. I was using KMail for some time. It has lots of features, but it’s not quite as simple and straightforward to use as Thunderbird.
- The Konqueror web browser improves support for scalable vector graphics and receives many performance enhancements.
- Enhanced Scripting Support. Plasma widgets can now be written in JavaScript, Python and Ruby.
See the Visual Guide To KDE 4.2 for the details on the innovations in 4.2. If you are a KDE user or you were a KDE user and moved to GNOME after KDE 4.0, I would advise you to try KDE 4.2. It’s much more pleasing, usable and stable than previous versions.
Source: KDE
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KDE team has released another bug fixes and maintenance release for KDE 4.1 series code named Change. KDE 4.1.3 includes the following changes:
- Two crashes fixed in the Dolphin filemanager.
- A large number of bugfixes and optimizations in the KHTML HTML rendering component.
- Several bugfixes in the Kopete multi-protocol
Instant Messenger.
KDE 4.1.3, Dolphin, KHTML, Kopete
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KDE team has released an upgrade to their new desktop environment, KDE 4.1. This release is the second feature release of the KDE 4 series, sporting new applications and newly developed feature. KDE 4.1 is the first KDE4 release to contain the Personal Information Management suite KDE-PIM with its E-Mail client KMail, the planner KOrganizer, Akregator, the RSS feed reader, KNode, the newsgroup reader and many more components integrated into the Kontact shell. Furthermore, the new desktop shell Plasma, introduced in KDE 4.0, has matured to the point where it can replace the KDE 3 shell for most casual users.
Some features you are used to in KDE 3.5 are not implemented yet. The KDE team is working on those to make them available in one of the next releases. If you are not sure about KDE 4.1, read Is KDE 4.1 for you?.
If you are using Kubuntu 8.04, KDE 4.1 has been released and packages are available for Kubuntu 8.04, the Hardy Heron. These packages install to /usr/lib/kde4 and can be installed along side your existing KDE 3 installation.
Instructions:
The updated packages for Kubuntu 8.04 are located in the Kubuntu Member’s KDE 4 Personal Package Archive (PPA) repositories. To update to the release candidate of KDE 4.1, please follow these instructions:
- Add deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-members-kde4/ubuntu hardy main to your /etc/apt/sources.list.
- If you already have the kubuntu-kde4-desktop packages installed, simply type sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade and answer the questions in which you are prompted. If you do not have kubuntu-kde4-desktop installed, simply type sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install kubuntu-kde4-desktop and answer the questions. Both of these options are to be typed at the command prompt.
Source: Kubuntu, KDE.
I read in several blogs and reviews that KDE 4.1 is much better and more usable than KDE 4.0. I’m going to install it in my laptop and see how good it is. I installed KDE 4.0 when it was new, but I wasn’t impressed by the usability and available applications. I liked the UI, but that wasn’t enough.
Here are some of the new/improved applications in KDE 4.1:
- KDE-PIM is back with 4.1, containing the applications
necessary for your personal information and communication. KMail as
mail client, KOrganizer as planning component, Akregator as RSS feed
reader and others are now available again in KDE 4 look.
- Dragon Player, an easy to use video player enters the stage
- Okteta is the new well-integrated and feature-rich hexeditor
- Step, the physics emulator makes learning physics fun and easy
- KSystemLog, helps you keep track of what is going on in your system
- New games such as KDiamond (a bejeweled clone), Kollision, KBreakOut
and Kubrick make taking a break from your work irresistible
- Lokalize, helps translators to make KDE4 available in your language
(if it’s not among the 50-odd languages KDE4 already supports)
- KSCD, your desktop CD player has been resurrected
- Dolphin, KDE’s filemanager has a new treeview in the main
view, also new is the support for tabs.
- Konqueror, KDE’s webbrowser now has support for re-opening
already closed windows and tabs.
- Gwenview, KDE’s image viewer has gotten a new fullscreen view, a
thumbnail bar for easy access to other photos, a smart Undo system and support for
rating images.
- KRDC, KDE’s remote desktop client now detects remote desktops on
the local network automatically using the ZeroConf protocol.
- Marble, KDE’s desktop globe now integrates with OpenStreetMap so you can find your way
everywhere using the Free Maps.
- KSysGuard, now supports monitoring process output or running
applications so there is no need to restart your apps from a terminal anymore
when you want to know what’s going on.
- KWin’s compositing window manager features have been more
stabilized and extended.
- Plasma’s panel configuration has been extended.
(Image: KDE)
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Tags:
Akregator,
Dolphin,
Dragon Player,
Gwenview,
KDE 4.1,
KDE-PIM,
Konqueror,
KOrganizer,
KRDC,
KSCD,
KSysGuard,
KSystemLog,
Kubuntu 8.04,
Kwin,
Lokalize,
Marble,
Okteta,
Plasma
KDE team has released 1st beta of KDE 4.1. This beta includes
- Greatly expanded desktop shell functionality and configurability
- KDE Personal Information Management suite ported to KDE 4
- Dragon Player, the lightweight media player, makes its debut.
- The KDE CD Player returns.
- A new printer applet provides unparalleled printing power and flexibility on the Free Software Desktop.
- Konqueror gains support for web browsing sessions, an Undo mode, and improved smooth scrolling.
- A new picture browsing mode including a full-screen interface come to Gwenview.
- Dolphin, the file manager, gets tabbed views, and many features appreciated by KDE 3 users including Copy To, and an improved folder tree.
- Zeroconf networking has been added to several games and utilities, taking the pain out of setting up games and remote access.
KDE 4.1 is scheduled to be released on July 29th, 2008.
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KDE team has updated their KDE 4.0 window manager. KDE 4.0.2 contains lots of bugfixes and some new features. Here are some of the new features introduced in KDE 4.0.2 (some of the features fixed bugs):
- Session switching added to Workspace
- Plasma – Option to show only task of the current desktop in the taskbar
- Plasma – Open toolbox when the dashboard view starts
- Plasma – Taskbar: Use severals rows if there is too much items to fit in one row.
- Plasma – Enable dragging from desktop to panel.
- Krunner – Set the threadpool according to the number of processors on the system.
- Krunner – Better sort ordering.
- Dolphin – Hitting <Enter> key opens all selected files instead of just one of them.
- Klines – Added support for themeable border that will be painted around the game field.
- Farsi has been added to KDE translations.
- Icelandic has been added to KDE translations.
For a list of bugfixes, click here.
Technorati Tags: KDE 4.0.2, Plasma, Krunner, Klines, Dolphin
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Posted 07 Jan 2008 — by Arun
Category General
I’m using KDE 4.0 RC2 intermittently now. You might have read my reviews here and here. It’s still not ready for everyday use. System settings is not working with KDE 4.0 RC2. When you click on System Settings, you get the icon in the taskbar with opening message, stays there for several seconds and then disappears without starting (similar to KDE 3.x problem and the reason, applications not starting, why I stopped using KDE). System Setting was working fine initially with RC2, but it doesn’t wok any more.
If I click on the file manager, Dolphin opens 2 windows, one with ~/KDE and another one with ~/4. I’m not sure why. It always opens 2 windows with those 2 folders. (picture below).
Programs requiring root password (like Adept, Synaptic etc) are still not working. I keep getting a message saying password is wrong and asks me to reenter.
The login splash screen and log out screen look nice and beautiful. (screenshot below. Sorry for the blurry photos).
Waiting for the stable release!!!
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