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:

1. Add deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-members-kde4/ubuntu hardy main to your /etc/apt/sources.list.
2. 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)