I've been a KDE enthusiast for many years and have been looking forward to KDE4, but I'm sorry to say that it still lacks enough configurability to make it useful. There are more configuration options than in KDE4.0, but even the new release is only about as configurable as Gnome. One of the great things about KDE has been the ability to get my desktop working exactly how I want it, unlike Gnome where it seems to be "you've got to have it the way the developers like it."

Why can't Linux programmers name there bloody applications using standard dictionary works.

Who the fuck considers Konfabulator, Kontact shell, Korganizer etc ........ as anything other than script kiddy talk. I know that the programmers have spent hours, months and years of their lifes programming correctly and doing their best and then they go and top of it off with some idiot sounding, "graffitti style" nonsense title.

The whole Linux world kills me everytime they come up with yet another stupid application name. For fuck sake guys get it together and at least "try" and give your apps a "professional" title/name.

Can you imagine the scene in the head boss's office. Dont worry Sir, all you have to do is Konfabulate your Konfiguration and your Kontacts will be right in K"fucking" order.

This is not an alliteration contest.

Mines the one with "Pissed of with the *nix boys when they behave like Kunts".

... I have to agree. 4.0 looked good at first glance but its lack of configurability put me off; I looked forward to 4.1 on the (misguided) assumption that that was being worked on. Disappointed again :-(

Paris 'cos I'm sure she's totally configurable

THe only one that would want KDE on XP or w2k ???

Thanks for the above poster for telling me what to think.

I have been a KDE user for many years and have been using KDE 4.1 from trunk from a few weeks. I find it a great desktop, with all the customizability and functionality I need. I guess the point is that it depends on who you are and what your need are.

Come on, there's plenty to be happy about here. I've just upgraded from KDE3.5.9 and I'm very pleased with the results.

The new [default] window styling is far nicer than anything I've seen outside of OSX. They've finally got rid of all those horrible kde3 icons :) Damn i hated those folder icons - infact the old icons were the only reason I could ever come up with for considering Gnome instead.

The main apps are looking much slicker now, by default - konqueror and konsole in particular. JuK looks pretty cool and less sluggish than AmaroK, and Dragon Player also feels much better than Kaffeine

I also tried setting up the Windows KDE4 apps at work - there's some way to go but it was encouraging to see Kate & AmaroK running in Windows. Good luck to them, and here's hoping that kde apps will become popular alternatives for Windows users in a year's time.

Maybe I'm just not a configure-till-you-drop fanatic, but I'm pretty chuffed with the progress. Bring on the autumn (next Kubuntu release).

"4.0 looked good at first glance but its lack of configurability put me off; I looked forward to 4.1 on the (misguided) assumption that that was being worked on."

it has been worked on. there are exactly two main things that aren't configurable in plasma that were in kicker: systray icon hiding and panel hiding.

there are many things that *are* configurable in plasma that weren't in either kicker or desktop.

the other KDE4 apps have also similarly increased their configurability over 4.0 remarkably.

another new GUi and color sceme ... exactly what we need ... We only have like 350 different ones.

I wish the developers would kindly pull their head out of their posteriors and start writing some usable software instead.

I'm a Kubuntu fan, but after seeing the live Kubuntu 8.04 I decided to hold on the upgrade from 7.10 until KDE4. To check that first hand, I installed 8.04 in a VirtualBox image From time to time I've been booting the VM, checking and applying for upgrades (of which there have been enough of them to make Windows XP go cry to a corner in the room) I'm waiting for 8.04 to become the rock solid workhorse to depend on that has been 7.10 for me during the last 8 months.

With great anticipation I updated to the latest KDE4 and logged in. Wow, this time it was looking much better, faster and with more applications.

The frustration came when I tried to customize a little (or what I qualify as "a little") the desktop. First thing, make the bottom panel smaller. I could make it smaller, but the digital clock, still using the big font, was only half visible. No problem, I said, just right click on the clock properties and change the font size like I did with KDE 3.5..... ahhhrrrrgg, no way to do that like I did with KDE 3.5

Guess I'll upgrade from 7.10 to 8.04.1 but KDE 3.5 will be around for me for some time.

And yes, instead of complaining, I'm going to report that to the KDE4 team.

It may be a coincidence, but after updating today KDE refuses to load in my Suse11 machine. A full reinstall later and KDE was fine till I again updated.

Not Impressed!

Sure, I've got Linux on my EEE - it works well as a small, quick mobile platform. But useful work? Bwahahahahaha!

Where is the CAD? Where are the engineering aps? Where is my NATSPEC? - oh, yes, thats right EVERY piece of software I need to perform my role as an architect (expect for Acrobat viewer) runs on WINDOWS, and won't run on Wine either, should you happen to mention that. Don't mention the Toy Apples either - I'm not a graphic designer or cushion-tosser, and I don't wear black and posture mightly with my iPod.

I guess if your work invloves entering info in Kontact or Konfabulator or Knotepad you might be happy, but some of us have real jobs.

Although I agree with the comment about the Kutsey names for the KDE apps. Most of us aren't 15 years old, guys. Also, it reminds me of the KKK naming convention - with their Klans, and Klonvocations and Kludds, and so on.

I think the Juk player is utter pants though. Sure, it plays the music ok, but try and *browse* it and see the tags, file properties and so on. Good luck. I'm waiting for Amarok to get updated.

The desktop and windows are very nice though, and I think it's an excellent upgrade.

"Why can't Linux programmers name there bloody applications using standard dictionary works."

Assuming you mean "their" applications using dictionary "words":

1. You can't have intellectual property rights over a plain dictionary word, which is why commercial products use cute spellings of ordinary words (with something like "Outlook" it'll be the particular design of the typesetting that MS have rights over, though I wouldn't want to try to market an email client under the name Lookout, either);

2. the K thing brands it all as part of the same set of apps.

I'm not saying I like it, but there are reasons, and at least they didn't spend hundreds of thousands with some whale-song strategy boutique to get a corporate identity strategy.

y'all ought to try something better like enlightenment. i could never stand Gnome or KDE, xfce was ok for a while and fvwm2 was good when i had to work with a 486 with 24 megs of ram.

the only window managers i found usefull though were window maker and enlightenment. and enlightenment was way ahead. the ease and extent to which a dodo can configure it, makes it imo the best window manager ever.

Yeah what's with KDE apps that begin with a K.

That's like Windows crudware being called winzip, winrar, winSCP....

I'll get my coat

..and very happy with it. Yes there are a few config and interoperability issues but it's not classed as a 'finished' release yet, but whats there is impressive and very usable. And it's not just eye candy, the improvements underneath are more impressive than plasma, pulseaudio for instance. Select my main PC as the output with the system tray icon on my laptop, open amarok on the laptop it plays on the hifi plugged into the main PC with very low latency. It works with any number of inputs and outputs. Thats only one of the improvements, it may even have usable file indexing one day ;)

BTW, I'm running it on a 1ghz PIII with 512mb of ram and intel i810 graphics (morris minor of graphics acceleration) with all the fancy effects on and it is smooth and responsive. It could do with a bit more ram as it can get a bit too sluggish with 10 or more apps open but otherwise performance is acceptable.

XFCE4 = solid desktop interface to apps with low overhead

KDE4 = shiny surface, klunky interface to apps with large overhead

Think I'll stick with XFCE4, as I generally have to use my desktop to actually get work done, as opposed to staring at it and going "ooohhh, how pretty, a wobbly transparent window!"

Paris because her GUI is more fun.

First, learn to spell.

Second, my update from RC1 to 4.1.0 has been completely smooth with Kubuntu. So your issue is not with KDE, its a packaging issue so go complain to Novell instead of trolling here.

...telling others to learn how to spell should learn the difference between "its" and "it's" I think!

>First, learn to spell <

Are you real?

First learn what TLA stands for.

Paris, cos even she's not that stoopid

I can run Bricscad (Autocad clone) and Sketchup on an ancient 433Mhz laptop with Kubuntu 7.04.

The Linux version of Briscad costs about £100 and my Autocad expert friend was impressed with it. I have no connection with either of these companys.

Hope this helps.

openSUSE's implementation of KDE 4.0 is fine.

Tried Kubuntu 8.04 version & it wasn't ready.

I run openSUSE 11.0/KDE 4 on a Dell D600 laptop & it is stable and quicker than KDE 3.

The applications I need work. Only Pidgin crashed on me and Kopete fixed that.

Wireless network, printing, scanning all worked for me.

New YAST is a move in the right direction (a SUSE thing).

The differences with KDE 4 compared to 3 are similar to moving from Windows XP to Vista desktop. Things have moved but not that hard to find.

I think you'll find there are plenty of work apps for macs, if only you would take your biased head out of your *rse long enough to look. TurboCAD, for example, is made for both Windows and OS X. I work at a company that installs Cisco networks. All the work here is done on OS X from network diagrams to service monitoring to penetration tests.

another DE release, another silly flame war. Does it really matter which DE you use as long as it works for you?

Seriously children. Grow up.

I have been a KDE user for years and years, and was always of the opinion that gnome sucked.

Recently gnome has got very good, version 2.22 which comes with ubuntu 8.04 is excellent. I had a good go with KDE 4 but I'm afraid that I don't like it and am not convinced about the direction it's heading. On the other hand gnome seems to be getting better and better.

The new K menu has become so complicated that it's actually really difficult to use and easy to get lost in. I don't like the widget thing in the top right of the screen, and can't seem to get rid of it. I don't like the new oxygen theme (not keen on ubutnu's poo theme either). It doesn't integrate with compiz very well.

Saying that, I will continue to use KDE apps in gnome as amarok is better than rhytembox, Kaffeine is better than totem, K3B is better than Brasero and KDevelop is better than ajunta.

The KDE Vs gnome "war" will continue for years to come, but KDE4 is a real own goal. I for one, have changed sides (kinda).

I only clicked on this article to chuckle at the inevitable ill-informed trolls and spleen-venting enthusiasts. Not disappointed!

"Where is the CAD?"

Pro Engineer runs fine, has a native Linux version. Currently experimenting with BRL-CAD - US Army's CAD system, it is GPL and runs natively. Blender is pretty good for drawing stuff too.

"Where are the engineering aps?"

ANSYS and Fluent, probably two of the biggest engineering applications around, run natively and are arguably faster and more stable in Linux.

Not everyone uses english as their main language. Isn't KDE german by origin?

Paul, you're right about English as the main language... especially for Americans under a certain age (mid-40s or thereabouts). The lengths to which people have been educated to avoid fluency and literacy never continues to boggle the mind. And, sadly, our fellow tech folks are leading the charge.

Mine's the one with the "Dictionaries Aren't for Doorstops" button...

...the machine running Ion on a dual processor dual core...KDE feels like a lame, hit by a car, toad in comparison.