Kde 4.3

[bigtomrodney]

Right so I've decided to give KDE another look. I'm just test driving KDE 4.3 RC2. It seems to have come a long way.

I'm just wondering

• Are any of you guys using it (and what version)
• Any thoughts from you guys
• Are any of you using Kubuntu

The reason I ask about Kubuntu is that I'm testing the openSUSE version and it's pretty slick. I've heard bad things about how Kubuntu put things together and I'm wondering if that's coloured my perception of KDE4 in the past.

I'm all ears

[oz]

Yes, I've been playing around with 4.2.4 quite a bit lately and it's finally getting to the point that I can stick with it for more than a few days at a time. I'm really looking forward to trying 4.3 when it releases. I've only run 4.2.4 under Arch, so can't give any opinions on it under other distros.

Unfortunately, I am still rather unhappy with Koffice 2, but then that's not the fault of the KDE developers.

[MikeTbob]

I'm using Version 4.2.4, on Gentoo and Mint, but I'm not sure of the Mint version. I love them both except for the random Dolphin/Plasma crash here and there it runs pretty good for me. I think the Mint version is a little more stable though.

[daark.child]

I am using 4.2.x on Mandriva 2009 and I quite like how they have presented KDE4. I have got to the point where I can use KDE 4.x without much trouble for most of my daily tasks (sysadmin, writing, email, web and music). I tried Kubuntu 9.04 and it was as buggy as hell and after a couple of hours, I got rid of it. I wonder why Canonical doesn't employ more people to work on Kubuntu.

[lucho]

Right so I've decided to give KDE another look. I'm just test driving KDE 4.3 RC2. It seems to have come a long way.

I'm just wondering

• Are any of you guys using it (and what version)
• Any thoughts from you guys
• Are any of you using Kubuntu

The reason I ask about Kubuntu is that I'm testing the openSUSE version and it's pretty slick. I've heard bad things about how Kubuntu put things together and I'm wondering if that's coloured my perception of KDE4 in the past.

I'm all ears

I'm using 4.2.96 (i.e. 4.3 RC2) on Debian Sid. At least here in Debian the 4.2.* series has been solid for me. No complaints whatsoever.

Interestingly, I'm currently running the radeonhd driver, not fglrx, so no 3D. But you know what? With the open source driver KDE 4 runs smoother/snappier than fluxbox! I get no cube, magic lamp or wobbly windows, but KDE 4's xrender plays very well with radeonhd on my hardware:
amd64 3400, 754 socket
2GB RAM memory
ATI radeonHD 3850 AGP 8x
Dunno about your hardware, but this is something to keep in mind

Unfortunately, I am still rather unhappy with Koffice 2, but then that's not the fault of the KDE developers.

Amen, brother. When a real version, and not just an unmarked beta, comes out there will be much joy

[oz]

One of the things that I'm most excited about regarding KDE 4.3 is the opportunity to use split packages so that you can install just the packages you want instead of having to install large groups of packages, some of which you might never use:

KDE Packages - ArchWiki

The KDEmod project has been doing this for a while, but now non-KDEmod users can take advantage of split packages if they wish.

[reed9]

Well, Arch has had the newly released KDE 4.3 available for a few hours now and I had to install it on a test laptop and take it for a whirl.

It's good. I thought 4.2.3 was the first release that I would, albeit with some trepidation, recommend to someone to use. I think my trepidation is mostly gone.

It feels much more reponsive than I recall the 4.2 series feeling on this old laptop. It's very pretty, even with the default themes. (And this is Arch, so it's all vanilla packages.)

I do wish they would include an option to change the default background in the solitaire suite, kpat. They changed the theme this release, and it's nice, but I'd like to be able to change not only the cards, but the "table" background. Obviously a fairly minor quibble.

Sadly, turning compositing on in kwin results in a massive slowdown. But that's probably due to the open source driver. This computer has an ATI Radeon Xpress 200M. I suppose I should be happy there's 3d acceleration at all.

Not interesting enough for me to leave openbox, but for those who like a full featured dekstop environment, I think KDE may be surpassing GNOME. And I always preferred GNOME to KDE 3.5.

EDIT: I really dislike Amarok 2.1.1.

[oz]

Unfortunately, I'm finding myself to be disappointed with KDE, yet again!

Plasma is still bug ridden and it continues to feel unstable, and as for any new found speed, this release feels a bit slower than the previous release did to me. There are plenty of other issues with it, but I don't care to bother listing them.

Currently, I'm only running KDE 4.3 as an upgrade from 4.2.4, but this weekend I plan to do a fresh install and pick just those packages that I want, so maybe it'll be more pleasing that way, but I doubt it.

In the interim, Gnome continues to get my vote as the better desktop environment although, I had been a huge fan of KDE up until KDE4 came about.

[zba78]

I installed KDE 4.3 in my Arch setup a couple of days ago and I must say I was quite impressed with the speed improvements. It certainly felt more responsive then some of the previous 4.x versions.

Please note I don't run compiz-fusion or any of composting in my Arch setup so I can't comment on how my ATI mobility would have coped with all of the bells-and-whistles turned on.

[oz]

One thing that I've noticed about KDE 4.3 is that it works and feels much smoother with compositing turned on. Unfortunately, I'm not a fan of all those special effects so I'd prefer that it work smoothly and properly in either mode.