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Jan
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My previous article, 10 things I hate about KDE 4 RC2, got a lot of unexpected attention. At Digg I was called a “damn fool”, “dumbass” (for some reason that guy thought I believed RC referred to Plasma) (?!) and an “idiot”. I apparently hurt developer feelings. The point of the article was to imitate complaints I expect to see if some things do not change. Had I read this post, I may not have even written it. I stand by my complaints about Release Candidate 2 (the openSUSE version), overall they were mainly minor. I will revisit that post once the release goes gold. I promised to follow up with 10 things I love about KDE 4 RC2+, so here goes.
10 things I love about KDE4 RC2+ (openSUSE flavor):
10. Oxygen Icons - Someone mentioned in a comment somewhere that I I could take the time to complain, but not take the time to mention how nice the Oxygen Icons look. Here you are! They do look nice. They aren’t cartoonish, they don’t look like Fisher-Price designed them (sup, XP). They look attractive and modern. I definitely prefer them to Tango, and it isn’t like Tango is bad. They present a nice face as the default icon set. A lot of work and thought has been put into them, and it shows. Great job, Oxygen-Icon team!
9. Look and Feel - Huge improvement here. The environment looks modern, subtly flashy (which couldn’t have been easy to pull off) and clean. I like the use of blacks throughout. I’m glad to see bright blue off of my screen. Little things like “Alt + F2″ are improved. First, it looks great. The Plasma box that opens is sharp looking. The added functionality, putting “application, location or search term” together is nice. The button to show system activity is helpful. A small area, but indicative of the work done. There is a consistency using it that I have not seen in an operating system (more on this below). It is a lot more attractive than Vista, to my eye. It looks fantastic and feels fast, and I’m using openSUSE’s somewhat dated packages. The more I use it, the more I like it.
8. Konqueror improvements - The over cluttered-looking Konqueror loved and bitched about endlessly is gone. We now have a snazzy looking default Konqueror, with helpful links on the opening page, seven icons on the bar by default. As I complained about before, some of the functionality I am used to is not there, more likely than not due to openSUSE providing an outdated kde-konqueror-addons package. It looks damn good. It has been solid as a web browser. I look forward to the release version. The recent Dolphin/Konqueror controversy is positive in a sense, showing the love and fanatical devotion we have for the swiss army knife on steroids that Konqueror is.
7. Koffice2 is amazing - This will get its own article, but Koffice2 looks and behaves beautifully. It fits in very nicely with the very attractive default desktop. I am looking forward to spending a lot of time with Koffice2. Excellent job here, developers. I already prefer it to OpenOffice. Much more about this topic soon.
6. Doing away with the desktop-is-file-manager idea - This is a bold step. It may feel odd at first, particularly for those of you addicted to stuffing your desktop full of icons. I like that it is a push in a new direction. The payoff might not show up entirely with the release of 4.0, but I expect to see big things here. Change is good.
5. Kickoff - Hold up, haters. It isn’t Kickoff itself that I love as much as the idea that it is there by default. It reminds me of the story (that I hope is true) of the French government doing away with phone books years ago to force people to use the internet. With the upcoming Raptor, Lancelot and other ideas moving forward, this choice again helps push us to the future. The more I use Kickoff the more I like it. I don’t find it to be the spawn of satan that a lot of you do. The familiar menu is still available if you prefer to kick it old school.
4. Composite effects - nicely done. Kwin’s Composite effects look great. Modern, not too much going on. I like that they are there but do not get up in your face. Tasteful default choices yet again. This area will be getting its own article soon. I want to spend more time with it and become more knowledgeable than I am. I like that “Ctrl + F8″ shows me my desktops. “Alt + Tab” is an attractive switcher. “Ctrl + F10″ show me all of my windows. This hands down beats Vista. It will be interesting to see how it will interact with Compiz-Fusion. Overall, I really like this and will have more to say very soon. Excellent job again, Developers.
3. Gwenview - Poorly named Gwenview is now cleaned up, as stated here, and now only gives you the image and a basic toolbar when opening an image. (Click link for nice screenshots) Images opened from Gwenview you get many more choices. This shows the level of detail and thought that went into creating KDE 4. It also brings me to my next point:
2. Consistency - I love this. It doesn’t jump right out at first, but settled in slowly for me. KTorrent looks like a KDE 4 app, because it is. KMail fits in perfectly. The games have been updated and look in place. I can’t imagine the work that went into achieving this, but it was time well spent. Going back to other desktops really magnifies the lack of consistency in them. The consistency is outstanding in KDE 4.
1. Guts, courage and balls - To me, this is the biggest thing about KDE 4. Frankly, I was surprised to read that developers were “hurt” and “disillusioned” by my “10 things I hate” post. I’m sorry to hear that they have been beaten down by criticism. A _really_big_thing_ is happening here. A move to the future has been committed to and the first step is close to being achieved. KDE 4 is better than Vista. KDE 4 improves upon the outstanding 3 series. There will be more improvements down the road, but honestly things are in good shape as of my dated RC2 system. I commend the developers for the outstanding work done. I can’t wait to see the results of the final weeks of bug killing and squashing. From what I read, development is at a frantic pace. You guys have done something tremendous for which you should be proud.
The fact that the KDE team has pulled this off is inspiring. My stupid little top ten lists do not do justice to this accomplishment. Trying to narrow things I love to ten was not easy. I decided to focus on what was immediate. The big-picture changes are just too big to be dropped into a little list. Phonon, Solid, Decibal and all of the other big technologies didn’t even get on the list. They need their own articles to get the attention they deserve. The changes are so big and so interesting that it is easy to become overwhelmed trying to write about them. If that is true, imagine coding them!
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So, to close, I apologize to anyone I offended with my first article. I meant in no way to take away from the work that has been done. I can’t wait to install the final release. I can’t wait to see the firestorm of controversy that will erupt on that day. We Linux users are passionate, and this passion, while seeming destructive at times, is the fuel that drives the improvements. The future is very bright for KDE. The future is now. Thanks again for all of the work put into a system that I can use for free.
Comments
26 Responses to “10 Things I Love about KDE 4 RC2+”
Wow - what an incredibly *nice* article - I bet this will make some of the devs’ day
“From what I read, development is at a frantic pace. ”
Why not try it out for yourself? The KDE guys have set up a couple of means of doing this, from OpenSUSE’s build service to KDE4Daily VM, which does exactly what is says on the tin: daily builds of KDE4, straight from SVN:
http://etotheipiplusone.com/kde4daily/docs/kde4daily.html
Thanks for the comment, and the link. I hadn’t thought about using a daily VM build, I will absolutely try that. I haven’t used OpenSUSE’s build service, that might be interesting as well.
unfortunatelly i dont like kde4, i dont know why…eveything look somehow strange…panel, menu, widget style…
Having used KDE4 as my primary desktop for about a month, I very much agree. I like all of the kde4 apps better than their kde3 counterparts. Plasma itself is VERY nice and I can’t wait until there are python bindings for it. right now… I just want them to port digikam and then i’ll be in heaven
Love KDE 4.0 or hate it, too few people can seem to wrap their head around the idea that 4.0 IS NOT THE FINAL FORM OF KDE4!!! (That last statement was not directed at the author but at the Internet in general).
No one said it better than the KDE devs themselves:
http://www.kdedevelopers.org/node/3174
But I’ll add my own 2 cents:
KDE 4 is a massive rewrite and upgrade. It isn’t like the slow but steady gradual changes and updates of Gnome 2.x. Expect bugs in 4.0. Expect flaws. I haven’t yet tried KDE 4.0 myself, but I have little doubt that there will be a lot of brokenness in there. However I have no doubt that with a year or two, KDE 4, with the huge advances it represents, will become by far the best desktop environment out there, period. Be afraid, Apple. Be very afraid!
For those that want to try out and play with KDE 4, great! The more use KDE 4 gets, the faster it can stabilize and start realizing its potential. If a KDE fan doesn’t feel 100% safe running 4.0 on a mission critical machine, just use KDE 3.5.x or another DE for the time being until you feel satisfied with the progress of KDE 4 development.
I just don’t like seeing people, especially those that have never used KDE before, look at 4.0 and think “Yuck, why even bother with this mess?”, all the while not even considering what KDE will probably be like by 4.1 or 4.2.
Very good article, it’s much better than the previous.
The only thing here I can’t really agree with here is KOffice being amazing. lol, fortunately KOffice still has time to mature as it does not follow the KDE Release cycle.
Other apps, like Digikam, Amarok, KOffice will be finished soon, so users should not stress about this.
The overall look, in my opinion as well, does appeal to me more than vista did. However, with vista when I used the environment I somehow felt out of place…it just was not linux. With this, I feel at home. KDE4 is managing to do what Microsoft, and Apple did with their interfaces. Consistency, good looks, and helpful eyecandy are all things that are important to success and the KDE Developers are noticing that. Look at Gnome for example: I don’t think linux will ever succeed if things like gnome are all users see. The GTK toolkit is no where near as attractive as the QT toolkit. Users go for eye candy.
I am really planning to test and later use KDE4 regularly in my laptop.
I am regular user of KDE 3.5.
I know that the development pace is fast at this stage.
But I hope the release is stable, at least stable enough.
Users can admit the lack of an application or a minor bug,
But most real users prefer to have the release date delayed, than having released a KDE4 in beta stage, just to have it tested and get a general disappointment.
First impression counts, that is a big truth.
Having said this, you have my full support.
I can certainly sympathize with the developers getting beaten down by lots of criticism. The thing was virtually built from the ground up, this foundation is not visible, but will facilitate lots of neat future features.
The parts that are visible, and that the user interfaces with, have not all come together yet. But with the stated vision I have no doubt that they will.
I have used various versions right from the first release, and yes it currently lacks all KDE3 functionality. But it is looking good and modern, and I know all the original functionality will come. It is still a bit buggy, and I have experienced the “grey” screen lots of times, similar to the MS “blue screen of death”. I don’t report anything because I don’t know if I have all compatible or most recent packages, so this would only keep the developers chasing their tails.
So yes, it might be premature for a “gold” release, but then if it cannot be used in a “stable” OS right away, it should not be that long until it can. Closer to the vision of just install it and everything just works.
Very nice article, although I was expecting “20 things I like about KDE4 RC2″. If you had used the Suse built system then I am sure that the title of your article would have been different
KDE4 is like going out in the fresh air after working in a dirty factory the whole day - it’s refreshing.
@Anonymous: it was again emphasized in the Commit Digest http://commit-digest.org/issues/2007-12-30/ the KDE 4.0 is the biginning of a series so people should remember that it’s only the beginning and not the end (the contrast to Vista). KDE 4.0 is like a revolution of the desktop evolution. It’s a big change compared to the 3.5x series but like 3.5 it will continue to evolve.
A nice and friendly article.
Regarding the screenshots: did you resize the panel and icons? If so, how did you do it?
My main concern is have they fixed Konsole yet? I’m folks will question this (”Konsole? What’s broken”), but…the right click menu on the tabs is *noticeably* absent. I use that menu everyday at work and it’s a large bother to 1 - make sure I’m on the correct tab, then 2 - Go to the top menu to do things (rather than simply right click on the tab I need to work with).
–Beemer
This article is simply saying, in a different form though, exactly the same thing as the first one (”10 things I hate”) - KDE4 is vista.
“Vista” is a shorthand for “miserable failure”
KDE is very far away from the consitency of GNOME, GNOME is ugly, but is functional, consisntent, and rarely crash; unlike KDE. And I do not say this because I’m a GNOME fun, before using GNOME, KDE was all I use to know, after years I realize that GNOME is better
KDE = eye candy
GNOME = functionality, stability, HIG, speed, consistency and a lot of good things
Thanks for the comments everyone.
@ vi, I’m not saying that. Vista = miserable failure, that is correct.
@ hey, glad to hear you love Gnome so much. It is great we have more than one solid choice for a DE.
Everyone else, I appreciate the comments.
-rich
The comments I read hear are much nicer than the previous.
I do however see some trends “i wonder if they fixed this”
Unfortunately, if you want a feature you have to file a bug report on http://bugs.kde.org
If you don’t let the developers know what you want on a medium that they will check every day, than it probably won’t happen. Unfortunately the right click menu on konsole tabs won’t make it into 4.0 (1hour until the code is frozen) However, I can tell you all that a new panel background has been implemented (however due to a bug that is being fixed as i type i can’t give you a screenshot of it). For those that were not fond of the old one, or who could not use compositing so the old panel transparencies weren’t available, this should be refreshing.
There is a LOT of work going on right now, I wish i could tell it all but i simply don’t have the time. Also, kdebase has a broken build at the moment (also being worked on)
So in a few days we will have a finalized KDE 4.0.
Which by the way, is very stable. I havn’t had a crash in a few weeks.
After trying KDE RC2, my impression is natural death to MS.
Cheers,
This is a nice balance to the first article. I’m sure that the core dev team will appreciate the counter article.
I think the number one item on your list is an important issue that no one onver the rest of the web seems to point out. I’d be interested to see what kind of fuss is generated when Gnome 3 lands :-)!!
“It reminds me of the story (that I hope is true) of the French government doing away with phone books years ago to force people to use the internet.”
Urban Myth, I’m afraid. Phone books are still very much alive here in France.
Being a Gnome user for the last couple years, I’m looking forward to playing with KDE4. I’m not sure I like the look of the taskbar though, but I hope that is changeable. From what I’ve seen so far, the KDE devs have put alot of effort into testing and making sure things work, which is a nice change. I had so many problems with KDE3 that I think this will be refreshing. Not to say that Gnome is perfect or anything, but it was less aggravating.
I’m certain that KDE4.0 will be a little clumsy, but that’s to be expected since it’s basically a complete rewrite from 3.5. When KDE4.1 comes out, it will fix the left over problems, and KDE4.2 will introduce some even cooler features than 4.0 first did. Congrats to the KDE devs for putting alot of hard work into their new release.
I can see people complaining above about why people are critisising KDE 4.0 when KDE4 will really show itself when it hits 4.1 or 4.2. However I’m interested in running KDE 4.0 from launch day forward on Kubuntu, and people’s current opinions will tell me what to expect on launch day.
There’s been a lot of hype to KDE 4.0 and from reports, critical or otherwise, it sounds like it’s richly deserved.
[...] system requirements lower than even Windows XP. More information about KDE4’s improvements, see this article. or [...]
[...] 10 Things I Love about KDE 4 RC2+ [...]
” Doing away with the desktop-is-file-manager idea”
I am too a supporter of this philosophy, since when you use it as a file manager it just gets messy; shortcuts, directories, video files, all kind of files get cluttered that just get confusing and makes the Desktop look ugly.
[...] Nháºn xét sÆ¡ bá»™: giao diện đẹp và khác hẳn KDE 3.x.x. Tuy nhiên do giao diện má»›i nên cÅ©ng phải mất thì giỠđôi chút để là m quen và các máy cấu hình yếu chạy sẽ cháºm (giống nhÆ° chuyển từ WinXP sang Vista). Ngoà i ra, má»™t số ứng dụng chuẩn trên KDE cÅ©ng được cải tiến và có nhiá»u tÃnh năng má»›i. [...]
i know a lot of work has been put behind KDE, but let me say that, the “Vista-Wannabe” look, just Sux, and it SUx, and it SUX again!
Why would anyone want to have a vista look in a linux ? linux is way more atractive.
Once again Gnome wins both vista and kde.