DeviceGuru

The KDE project released version 4.0.0 of the KDE Linux desktop environment on Jan. 11. It’s available as upgrades to several major distributions, and on a special live CD version of Kubuntu, the KDE version of Ubuntu.

To check out this latest and greatest KDE, I burned a Kubuntu KDE 4.0.0 live CD and attempted to boot it up on the Black Tower. For some reason, this version of Kubuntu wouldn’t boot on my system.

As an alternative, I downloaded the KDE 4.0.0 packages and installed them alongside KDE 3.5 on my system, which runs Kubuntu Gutsy Gibbon. The procedure for doing this on Kubuntu is (as root, or via sudo):

• Using a text editor such as pico, add “deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-members-kde4/ubuntu gutsy main” to /etc/apt/sources.list
• At the command line, run: apt-get update; apt-get install kde4-core

Following this, log out of KDE, select KDE 4 from the drop-down menu of the system’s login manager, and log back into the desktop.

After performing the above steps and arriving back on my system’s desktop, I was surprised how different it was! These two screenshots tell only part of the tale:

My desktop in KDE 3.5 (left) and KDE 4.0 (right)
(Click each image to enlarge)

Bearing in mind that v4.0.0 is the first stable release of KDE 4.0 to emerge, I wasn’t too surprised to find quite a few areas where it didn’t seem finished. For example, I couldn’t figure out how to get all the desktop icons to “align to grid” the way I’m used to with KDE 3.5; also, there wasn’t any obvious tool for making the desktop icons smaller; etc.

On the other hand, it was my first experience of KDE 4.0, so I found it interesting in many ways. In particular, KWin, KDE 4.0’s window manager, features built-in compositing and provides a variety of advanced graphical effects, including Vista-like transparency, shadows, and fade in/out animations.

Here’s another KDE 4.0.0 screenshot, courtesy of KDE.org:

The Dolphin file manager, system settings, and the kickoff menu
(Click to enlarge)

And here’s a Youtube video that demonstrates some of KDE 4.0.0’s interesting video effects:

If you’d like a glimpse into the future of the Linux desktop, visit KDE.org and find out how to download and install KDE 4.0.0 on your system. More information on KDE 4.0 is available here. Details on how to obtain v4.0.0 are here.