KDE 3.5 > KDE 4

[Paul Lemmons]

Ronnie Tucker wrote:
> I'm thinking of installing KDE4rc1 on my Kubuntu Gutsy install but i'm 
> wondering:
>
> I've read that KDE4 installs separately from KDE3.5 so will installing 
> KDE4 give me a default KDE4 desktop (ie: it wont recognise stuff i've 
> installed)?
>
> Any advice is most appreciated, thanks!
>   
I have been tinkering with KDE4-RC1 and am frankly a wee bit confused by 
it. I am not sure what is a bug and what is a feature. I can see where 
some things might be headed and that they might not be there yet. I am 
waiting for RC2 (I do hope they put out an RC2) to see if things are a 
bit more intuitive and a lot more finished feeling.

Here are some examples:

- Right click does not seem to do anything useful where I expect it to
- Tool bar is "dead" feeling. It as the "K" button, a clock and list of 
what is running.
   - I can't configure it any differently
   - It is huge
   - It feel like it has lost the concept of being a low real-estate, 
quick reference status bar
- Things that should be the "system tray" appear to be taking up large 
real-estate on the desktop.
- Things seem to stack in the middle of the screen and to move them is 
counter-intuitive.
   - I would expect to be able to click and drag. But you have to click 
on the "?" icon to be able to drag.
- The "K" button appears to be taken straight from Vista. I don't know 
if that is good or bad yet.

I have tried a number of applications and they seem to work well, though 
I have not been thorough in testing them. I use a mixture of KDE native, 
Gnome and other applications what are desktop agnostic. They all, so 
far, appear to be stable.


I will admit to not having spent hours and hours with KDE4 but the time 
that I have spent leaves me hoping that this is not the end product.