Anyone else hate KDE4?

[maestrobwh1]

Re: Anyone else hate KDE4?

There are two things I don't like:

I can't get the damned numlock to stay on even though it is set to be on in Systemsettings. I am thinking this is a bug in 8.04.

And, I like the fact that in kde3, the desktop was a place I could drag and drop things. It was treated like a file folder in that sense. KDE4 is very pleasing to the eye... maybe minor to some It does seem to run quite a bit faster (apps open more quickly) on my somewhat aging Athlon XP 3200 than the latest kde 3.x

It is going in a nice direction. Be patient.

[MoonRise]

Re: Anyone else hate KDE4?

Truthfully I've been running things for KDE4 virtually. Not to big of a complaint except I couldn't test out Desktop Effects. Well today on my desktop, which is 7.10 KDE3.5.9 with KDE4 installed as secondary, it had a huge amount of updates for KDE4. I decided to have a go at it one last time. Oh, my, God! It actually took my color scheme from 3.5.9, the desktop effects work great (from what I can tell so far). Double clicking on the Desktop Icons I have actually produced an error message as to why it couldn't execute it. No it didn't work, but at least gave me clues to see why. Before nothing at all would happen. The new K menu was actually adjustable in size (It actually now has a feel to Tasty Menu which I use in 3.5.9). I'm on overload right now trying to test out everything. I will definately be moving this system to KDE4 when HH is released. No more virtual. Keep it up guys. This is the way to go!!

[mafitzpatrick]

Re: Anyone else hate KDE4?

I'm on KDE4 full time now (I remove all the KDE3 stuff to make sure ) and to be honest it's pretty damn good. I tried the 4.0.0, .1 and .2 releases and had nothing but a white screen so I can't really compare... but .3 is really nice to work with. All I miss are things like second panels that I had set up to speed up my "workflow" for a few things. It can wait and I can find new ways to do things.

Yes the icons on the desktop are a bit of a "uh?"...they're not actually icons, but shortcuts to icons that are in the Desktop folder. If that doesn't make any sense...well.. Try deleting one. Delete the icon off the desktop and it will re-appear when you log in - deleting is remove the shortcut, and logging in recreates the shortcuts to the files in desktop.

I think the plan is to provide better desktop-base access to folders (e.g. your home folder) and with that I think we'll be happy. The desktop has always been a bit of a "throw everything here and see what sticks" space. If we can streamline it and make us all more efficient workers, then all the better.

Have fun!

[Guest]

Re: Anyone else hate KDE4?

Yet another user/reviewer bashing a distro/desktop because of the way it looks...

If KDE3 has "cartoonish" icons, then change it. Don't like the wallpaper, change it. Don't like the new menu in KDE4 then change it! The old style menu is still available. These silly opinions annoy me. Both KDE and Gnome can be tweaked to look beautiful, and the default icon set and wallpaper is quite irrelevant if you're willing to spend five minutes changing it. I prefer KDE for the flexibility and options not found in Gnome.

I can see how KDE4 can feel like Windows, as there are few options compared to KDE3. I myself feel trapped in KDE4. But fear not, this is not Gnome - the missing functionality is not a "feature", it's not yet written. Dolphin for example have plans for even more functionality to be a better replacement for file browsing in Konqueror. More and more of the functionality we love in KDE3 is being written.

How can constantly adding functionality from KDE3 be a step in the wrong direction? Or are you referring to Phonon, Solid or the other framework of KDE4? Probably most of you are disappointed with plasma/widgets/panels, but that part is far from finished. KDE4 is not ready to replace KDE3 for everyone yet, but it has reach a point where it's usable at least.

[mafitzpatrick]

Re: Anyone else hate KDE4?

Saturnus: Who are you talking to? I don't see anyone bashing KDE for cartoonish icons.

Personally I think KDE4 is great.

[magikx21]

Re: Anyone else hate KDE4?

I tired KDE4 when it was released and I thought it was terrible. I started using it again lately though on my HH box and it is starting to shape up. While I am sticking with 3.5 for now (why change when it meets all your needs?) I do think that in the future I will make my way over KDE4.

[3vi1]

Re: Anyone else hate KDE4?

...So can Ubuntu (shuttleworth) please explain why 7.10 had more updates than a windows SP1 and was a month before ?...

Windows service packs don't contain updates for every app from every vendor. Linux repositories do.

The number of updates you receive is relative to the number of installed apps, so re-installing a base system and doing the updates will always net you fewer updates than that of a system you've actually been using. Systems that are actually used generally have a few non-default packages installed.

-J

[clownius]

Re: Anyone else hate KDE4?

Sorry but personally ill steer clear of KDE 4 a little longer. It really did feel like Vista to me. Id have to replace most things to like it yet 3.5 is what suits me so ill continue to use it. Its nowhere near as bloated as vista but the new menu is a joke to me why click 5 times when once did it before? I guess i can change it but....... 3.5 aint broke so ill stick to it.

[mafitzpatrick]

Re: Anyone else hate KDE4?

the new menu is a joke to me why click 5 times when once did it before?

Originally I thought the same, but one it's set up right it takes fewer clicks to do common tasks (and that is where the most work is done). For non-common tasks it requires the same number of clicks (count them) plus a movement to the right with the mouse once the menu is open. So quit it with the fud ....The default size is too small, and non-obvious to change. It would be helpful to pre-set the "Favourites" with usual common programs or auto-update dependent on use... but I think to call it a joke is taking it a little far, no?

You do know the old menu is also still available? Add Widgets and then it's in the list (2nd "Application Launcher") - just drag it to the panel where your normal K is an remove the other.

There are plenty of reasons not to use KDE4, but the menu isn't one of them

[TheFuzz4]

Re: Anyone else hate KDE4?

I installed it today it looks really nice and I too like the direction that they are heading with it. I'll be patient with it but for now I will leave KDE3 installed as well and I'll switch back and forth. I like lots of things about it but here are my biggest complaints
1. Can't hide the panel
2. Can't change the time format
3. My volume buttons don't work
Other than that everything else is great. So I'll hang in there.

[Nate]

Re: Anyone else hate KDE4?

Do you mean like 24 hour clock vs. 12 hour clock? That can be changed. Go to System Settings, Regional & Language, Time and Date....you can enter "pH:MM:SS AMPM" for the time format (it's actually a list, just click on the down arrow along the right side to choose this option or 24 hour time).

As for volume buttons. Mine don't work either. But they did work briefly when I upgraded to 4.03, but then they stopped working when I upgraded to Hardy. So I'm hopeful they'll get it straightened out soon. It was nice having them function correctly for a time.

[TheFuzz4]

Re: Anyone else hate KDE4?

I guess I was just used to right clicking on the clock and changing it that way.
Also does anyone else have problems with the Konsole not updating the displayed text? For example I'll ssh into one of my other boxes and the konsole doesn't refresh until I press a key or something. Dunno maybe it's just me.

[assettt]

Re: Anyone else hate KDE4?

After using kde4 exclusively for the past week. i'll say it's shaping up nicely and when released for public consumption will be the best desktop environment ever. At the moment it's usable but you have to put up with bugs occasionally. e.g. the applets in the kicker panel randomly appear and disappear, numlock on is not retained on reboot (in fact now my number keypad is not working),some aplplications work randomly (Digicam has just stopped working), etc. I think some of the issues will be solved as the desktop matures and some are invariably unfamiliarity with the new system.

[stealthbanana]

Re: Anyone else hate KDE4?

I like it, but I will be sticking with KDE 3.5 until probably 4.1.

I took to KDE2 from KDE1 immediately, similarly when kde3 was released. Alas I think KDE4.0 is far too radical at the moment for me, and as yet not enough extra bits to play with. I suspect this will be rectified by 4.1.

Again, the desktop functionality is a limit for me, the way I work is I to have it as a catch all place to stick directories, my desktops are full of stuff and I am slightly envious of people who can maintain a clean desktop, but its the way I work.

As the KDE project stated, KDE4.0 is a kind of preview release, KDE4.0 is not KDE4.

[rhabkirk]

Re: Anyone else hate KDE4?

The big problem I have is with application computability and menu displays. Once KDE4 is mature and stable enough to support all KDE apps or that all KDE apps are moved to the KDE4 world it is of little use.
Most people who use computers and I am not talking up the Linux geeks only just want compatibility or availability of the programs they use.
I have some same issues with Kubunutu changing from the KDE default file manager Konqourer to Dolphin, I lost most of the user control I had before, it may be I do not know how to set the display to displaying hidden files as a default but I do not have time to play as well. That is the big problem with KDE4 it is not mature enough yet, it has great potential and a lot of neat tricks. But to much is dedicated to showing up Windows 3D interface and not enough to making programs etc. functional.
It is really stupid to have 2 entries for the same program but one does not work. Also this is more on the KDE Development side they need to implement "System Settings" for KDE4. A lot of the System settings do not work under KDE 4. Again a view to the end user experience is focused on what we can do with the desktop not compatibility.
But we all have the choice to uninstall KDE4, wait that is another problem. KDE should be like Gnome or any other display manager and have all it uses separate from KDE3.x. When I went to uninstall KDE4 with Apt Get it made KDE3 inoperable.
It will take time but it is a long way from being viable window manager.
Luckily I have VBox to test it for functionality and the CD to test for the things that do not mater.
.