When it comes to Linux desktop environments, the majority usually say ‘Gnome’, and only a few say ‘KDE’. Reasons that kept the majority from becoming KDE users are mainly performance and reliability. However, things have changed with the KDE release version 4.5 as was shown!
KDE team has done a wonderful job, they have fixed 16,000+ bugs and added about 1,700 new features! Some people would want to stop me right now and say “that doesn’t mean it’s fast and stable”, and I would reply with a “Yes it is!”. With the latest modifications by the team, KDE has become as fast as Gnome, saying this after trying it on my Pentium 4 machine which had terrible problems running previous KDE versions before. Aside of the fist time logging in, it loads fast, runs fast, and responds even faster!
Looking at the ‘look and feel’, I have to say, it looks elegant – as ever. With the built in Window manager, Kwin, and the built-in compositor, things run smoothly with the effects average users would love. Plasmoids, KDE applet, have been improved. That, and the notification which has been integrated with KDE panel which looks quite slick. That’s what you get when you install the package, further customization is always applicable.
So the question here is: Is it time to start using KDE? The answer depends on the user and his/her preferences, KDE desktop customization differs from Gnome’s. If you’re a Gnome user, I really suggest to give KDE 4.5 a shot just like me; and by a shot I mean no less than a full night, get used to it. To be honest I personally this is the perfect time, seeing that Gnome desktop will be changing in the next few months and that neither Gnome Shell nor Unity has nothing related to Gnome 2.x desktop. So if you’re on Ubuntu 10.04, you can follow this guide to test it out. However, if you’re on 10.10, you can install it from the repository; kubuntu-desktop
. Don’t forget to give us you feed back.
that actually looks … impressive !!
guess I’ll try to get used to this as a fall back if I didn’t like Gnome shell or unity
Or you can settle with OpenBox and customize your own DE! 😉
KDE is too boated for my taste.
Bloated*
Also Xfce is better than KDE
Hahaha! I can sense the hatred! XD … Though I have to admit, Xfce is really good, I love it!
I think each DE has its own group of people! I am a Gnome/OpenBox guy, so even though KDE experience was astonishing, I couldn’t remain on it and had to return back!