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KDE 4.04: Bad, Just Plain Bad

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KDE

I wanted to like KDE 4. I really did. I can’t. It is the most annoying GUI (graphical user interface) I’ve used in years. And, yes, I’m including Vista’s slow as sludge Aero in my evaluation.

Since openSUSE 11 offers KDE 4.04 as one of its three default desktops—the others are KDE 3.5.9 and GNOME 2.22—I decided it was time to really give KDE 4 a try. Besides, some people think that openSUSE 11 offers the best KDE 4 experience around.

If this is the best KDE 4 has to offer, may I never get to see it when it’s being bad. I found KDE 4 to be awful.

I expected to have trouble getting my head around the new KDE 4 icon metaphor. I’d already played with it enough to know that it really wasn’t my cup of tea. What I didn’t realize is that, in KDE 4.0 anyway, just how flat-out annoying this take on icons was gong to be.

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Using a version a month old . . .

Yes, the KDE 4.04 release was awful. It's also more than a month old. I tried a fedora 9 live CD snapshot version of KDE 4.0.82. The improvement was immense--you can actually see the promise of 4.1. And now, the KDE 4.0.83 snapshot is out. KDE4 is definitely a work in progress, and progress is rapidly being made.

Usually Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols has reasonably well thought out comments. I think this one is an exception.

He's got his knickers in a twist over ancient history.

re: sjvn

he's been on the warpath since his break-up with ziff davis. every post is a rant about something. ...or perhaps it's just years of pent-up hostilities having to watch what he said representing eweek coming to the surface.

anyway, he's fun to watch. Big Grin

re:re: sjvn

Ahhh. Thanks for cluing me in--I didn't realize that he'd been canned. I don't follow tech media gossip, but a quick google search locates some sharp criticisms of sjvn.

I do remember that he did some decent reporting on the IBM vs SCO lawsuit a while back.

re:re: sjvn

Quote:

Thanks for cluing me in--I didn't realize that he'd been canned.

I don't know if he quit or was asked to leave, there were no details put forth anywhere I've seen yet. ...but then again, I didn't really look. I just noticed someone else doing the desktoplinux/linux-watch/linuxdevices and him doing nothing at eweek, and now he's doing a lot more blogging at practical-tech (his personal blog) and computerworld and publishing at linux.com.

Back to the Point..

Interesting blog, as essentially the same thing happens on Kubuntu 8.04 as well.

Seems to me, that we have Emulation occuring here, for years the Windows and Apply OS systems have been battling it out Windows taking the make changes, make up big, and irregularly, the Apple boys going down the make the updates frequently, small, aiming for tweaks and stability to thier OS.

Now KDE and Gnome are going down the same path for the Linux Gui, just as Redmond have recently put out Vista, and received less than good press, for something which looks pretty, but has so many annoying features it renders the experience impossible. KDE have released the version 4. Like vista, a HUGE coding project, a monumental change in the way way they want people to work. Which is receiving a very mixed reaction, and has equal number of stability issues.

then we have Gnome, oft criticized for its lack of change, much like apply, plodding along, adding tweaks, stability updates, and minor features at each release. surprisingly, this may be the thing which helps the gnome project, with the masses now looking at Linux as a viable alternative to Windows, they are looking for something which works the same way as what thy are used to..

Icons (on the desktop), pointers, clicks and menus.. when you are moving to a new operating system, familiar is a good thing, its hard enough learning there is no c:\ let alone learning that you shouldn't have 100 desktop icons.

KDE 4.0 is here to stay, and its a gutsy move to redesign your entire interface (I know they did more than that, but the great unwashed only see the pictures, not the paint). and with a bit of listening, feedback, and working with the people who use the OS, they will get it right.

Trust Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

I do trust the man, but watch what he's reviewing (old version). He needs to be patient. I'm sure it'll turn around.

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