KDE 4.2 (beta)

[Qqmike]

Re: KDE 4.2 (beta)

Just noticing/comparing, a bit bewildered. I got to where I like the KDE4 Plasma interface model--no problems. What I'm noticing is usability and performance differences thus far.

In a nutshell, 8.10 with KDE 4.1.x (?--not in there right now to check it, but it's the latest update thru Adept), the whole system is slow/sluggish. Click and wait, difficult to see certain windows (e.g., I can't read Konsole very well w/o Ctrl ++; task bar is often difficult to read all the open programs), windows open slowly with a delay and a drag and color splashed. I do have
Intel GMA embedded D915GAVL; Intel 3 GHz 530 CPU; Crucial 1 GM RAM (2x500 config), and have noticed the posts re the 915 (MoonRise).
Hate to put it this way, but 8.10--from a click-and-get standpoint--feels like my XP (which I boot into only once a month or so). I'm in 8.04 right now, and it feels like a Porche and everything is easy to see and to read.

I suppose this will all shake out in the right direction over the next so-many months. Wondering if anyone else is getting this same 8.10 *look-&-feel." I haven't go for 4.2 yet, and feel like first I better rescue my data outa there if I do that as an experiment.

[dibl]

Re: KDE 4.2 (beta)

Since I've got a KDE 3.5.x system (sidux) bootable on the same hardware platform as Kubuntu 8.10 with KDE 4.2 beta, I can compare them fairly closely, if not actually side-by-side. They are both based on Debian Sid branch, both are updated fairly often, and both have more or less the same services running, so it's "approximately" fair to compare them. Compiz and the Emerald window decorator are running on both of them, btw.

The Kubuntu system is a bit less stable, in several ways, and definitely slower to boot as well. But, having said that, I use it to do serious work and I don't distrust it with my data, bearing in mind the need to safely backup important stuff frequently. Here is my list of stability issues:

- booting directly into the X server is unreliable. At least half the time, KDM fails to run correctly, leaving the monitor blacked out and blinking for 3 minutes, followed by a beep from the motherboard, followed by the CLI login prompt. When I log in and issue "startx", it starts every time.

- the new panel is a little shaky about accommodating additional launched applications, after I've already got 3 or 4 running (I've got 6 or 8 icons parked there for frequently-used packages, plus the usual Kmix, Kpowersave, pager, Knetwork, plugged device notifier, etc.). I see it attempting to adjust its length and sometimes it seems to "oscillate" between two possible length settings.

- since the last update of the KDE 4.2 beta stuff, I've noticed that the panel seems to be having some problem holding its setup from one boot to the next -- basically the position of the taskbar and the parked icons has swapped in the left-right dimension, so the clock and stuff appear on the left and the taskbar on the right. So, I put 'em back where they belong, and "lock icons", but it's not holding reliably.

- similar (and probably related) to the booting into X issue, shutting down Kubuntu hangs on the splash screen at times, and I have to Alt-SysRq RSEIUB to make it let loose.

I can't say whether any of this is due to running the Nvidia beta 180.16 driver, but that's the same on both systems, so it's still fair to note that KDE 4.2 is having more trouble than KDE 3.5.x. I'm not surprised or dismayed -- one doesn't expect beta software to perform flawlessly under all conditions, and I'm basically enjoying learning about plasma and all of that. But it's true, there are still a considerable number of bugs to be worked out of KDE 4.


p.s. The mozilla-mplayer plugin works correctly in Firefox 3.0.4 on Kubuntu, but fails in sidux -- I'm still working on that strange issue. There's always something .... :P

[Zorael]

Re: KDE 4.2 (beta)

Few things I've noticed aside from the missing MSN plugin;

• Can't change _system_ notification sounds (do check, I dare you) = can't disable awful login/logout sounds
• Doesn't obey Powerdevil settings for what should happen when you close the laptop lid, locks screen every time
• XIM applications (xterm, Java [OO.o], etc) still don't interact with SCIM/SKIM
• System notification applet "flashes" a lot when it redraws, going full white - content - full white - content, etc
• Incoming messages plasmoid (KMail, Kopete, Pidgin, etc) doesn't update well from the "no compatible programs running" state if you start one - the old message isn't removed, and the new "No incoming messages" text is placed over it
• Still can't manually sort application menu entries
• Login greeter displays video garbage if the background is set to scale and the display ratio of the screen doesn't match the image (ie. normal wallpaper on widescreen display), can't set it to Display and Crop
• No "native" screensavers yet unless kscreensaver is it
• Still graphical video garbage on drawing objects (see links in signature), though much lessened if you use Compiz instead of kwin. Also much less prevalent in Fedora 10 so somehow they found a way to reduce it
• Panels stay above fullscreened Firefoxes unless set to "windows may cover", in which case all maximized windows do
• Detached panels cannot be hooked back to screen edges
• "Task notifier" that is displayed when files are copied/moved has a poorly formatted tooltip, and its system notification icon is much too wide, perhaps ~2 normal icons' width
• KRunner resizing itself ugly. Going from command mode to the other ("program"/"content" mode) and back again, I seem to lose keyboard focus when I get a dropdown menu with suggestions
• Bball pushes other plasmoids from the edges of the screen

I haven't had it crash yet. Firefox has a few times, but nothing inherent to the desktop environment itself.

[Qqmike]

Re: KDE 4.2 (beta)

Thanks for your input. I guess my issues aren't so bad after reading the above two posts
I do notice some of it, but haven't done such an exhaustive inventory as you guys have; e.g., I get this stuff, too:

Zorael: "Still graphical video garbage on drawing objects (see links in signature)..."


Main thing that caught my attention after being in 8.10 for two weeks then booting into 8.04 last night was how 8.04 feels so much "better"--crisp, fast, snappy, clean, no video issues, no slowness/sluggishness when windows open/close, no delays, and I can read the text much better (e.g., Konsole, Firefox, Thunderbird, and the dynamic entries on the task bar).

Thanks again.

[toad]

Re: KDE 4.2 (beta)

# Can't change _system_ notification sounds (do check, I dare you) = can't disable awful login/logout sounds

That counts among the many things I disable right from the start - worked for me I did System Settings - notifications - select kde system notifications and turn off login and logout sounds.

# Still can't manually sort application menu entries

Hm, worked for me with a simple right click on KMenu and using the Menu Editor. Lancelot, however, does not appear to care for any changes thus made, only KMenu...

[Zorael]

Re: KDE 4.2 (beta)

That counts among the many things I disable right from the start - worked for me I did System Settings - notifications - select kde system notifications and turn off login and logout sounds.

Bleh, I found it, I suck.

# Still can't manually sort application menu entries

Hm, worked for me with a simple right click on KMenu and using the Menu Editor. Lancelot, however, does not appear to care for any changes thus made, only KMenu...

Sure, I can edit the menu, but sort it? I want Firefox to be the first listed under Internet so I don't have to scroll way down, but it doesn't seem to obey the order in which you put items in the menu editor; it always goes in alphabetical order.

[toad]

Re: KDE 4.2 (beta)

Glad you managed to turn the sound off - annoying, isn't it!

Re the menu - have you clicked on "save" after you edited your menu? Easy to miss, that one (hanging head in shame here).

[Zorael]

Re: KDE 4.2 (beta)

Glad you managed to turn the sound off - annoying, isn't it!

Re the menu - have you clicked on "save" after you edited your menu? Easy to miss, that one (hanging head in shame here).

Yeah, I don't think the Oxygen sounds is of the same quality as the rest of the artwork, heh. Especially the login/logout sounds. >.<

If you forget to save after having edited your menu, you get a popup asking you if you want to save or discard changes. :3

[img width=400 height=234]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/Azraelian/snapshot1-1.png[/img]
See? Firefox should be uptop, and yet it's not.

[toad]

Re: KDE 4.2 (beta)

I just don't like my computer to attempt to talk to me. It can play music, films, you name it, but not make stupid sounds to confirm something which I can see with my own eyes anyway. As for the artwork, I like it (although I use the plastic theme).

Didn't know about the warning if you didn't click save. Wasn't there when I first messed with menus (long time ago, admittedly). Try changing it to the classic view to see whether any changes have been implemented there.

[Primoz]

Re: KDE 4.2 (beta)

Guess this is sort of KDE4.2 beta problems topic...
I worte this in other topic but got no reply:

I have installed KDE4.2beta some time ago, and I like it very much...
Few days ago I decided to try and create my own theme so I installed Inkscape and opened a theme did few things and save it under a different name.
But when I restarted and try to find my theme among the themes I couldn't find it...
But I found out that other themes became broken. This problem and my problem with open office 3 made me to make clean install of Kubuntu.
Anyway my plasma problem came back as soon as I installed KDE4.2beta..
I know it's my fault, why am I installing KDE4.2beta the first time and why did I install it the second time when I knew it would break things.
Well I just think this shouldn't happen, I see other KDE4.2 screenshots and plasma works fine...
Arezzo (my favorite plasma theme)
Oxygene (default plasma theme)
Aya (only theme that works well)

Add this to Beta problems.
I also experienced "memory" problem, as sometimes I lose my Lancelot and when I was experimenting with more than 2 panles that could hide plasma forgot how this panels were set (e.g.: in a corner) and that they were hideable...
But if I read correctly there will be beta 2 soon (today tomorrow??)

[Rog131]

Re: KDE 4.2 (beta)

> KDE 4.2 Beta 2 Release Announcement

KDE 4.2 Beta 2 Provides First Look at Upcoming User Experience

KDE Commmunity Ships Second Beta Release of KDE 4.2, Inviting Community to Test and Report Bugs.

December 16, 2008. The KDE Community today announced the immediate availability of "Canaria", (a.k.a KDE 4.2 Beta 2), the second testing release of the new KDE 4.2 desktop. Canaria is aimed at testers and reviewers. It should provide a solid ground to report bugs that need to be tackled before KDE 4.2.0 is released. Reviewers can use this beta to get a first look at the upcoming KDE 4.2 desktop which provides significant improvements all over the desktop and applications.
With 828 bugs closed in the past week, the KDE community is now in bugfixing mode in order to provide a smooth KDE 4.2.0 to end users in January.

> KDE 4.2 Beta++
> Ramblings of that Kubuntu dude (JontheEchidna)

[mia1dolfan]

Re: KDE 4.2 (beta)

I installed kde 4.2 b1 with the packages provided by the Kubuntu team. It's a beta, but it feels like a alpha release. I get a blue tooth crash at startup, most of the plasmoids don't work. If I try to manipulate the panel it crashes and disappears, and this is after starting with a fresh ~./kde/share folder. I know it's a beta release, and the Kubuntu team said not to report bugs on it, so I won't.

<rant>
I'm running Gnome now, I de-ubuntu'ed it by getting rid of the ugly orange, and making it feel like Kubuntu, same background, Oxygen theme, etc.... (my boot splash still says Kubuntu, and I'm using kdm, at least kdm works.) On that note Gnome apps have been encroaching more and more on my KDE. I have always used the Gimp, and Firefox. With Kubuntu 8.10, I switched from Adept to Synaptic, and kxdocker to avant-window-manager, and Kontact to Evolution (kmail sucks for modern HTML handling, and after seeing the feature requests go un-filled for over 5 years, I know there is little chance of anything getting done on it). What happened to the printing from Kubuntu? Did KDE not port there awesome CUPS tool from KDE 3, or did Kubuntu not include it? Kubuntu provide a crappy python applet with no icon to launch it (cause they know it sucks). Then there's all of the missing features of KDE 3, does it really take developers a year after the 4.0 release to get autohide for the panels? It would be nice if I can find a file on my desktop again by typing part of the name for it (KDE 4.2b1 doesn't re-implement it, maybe in 6 months or a year from KDE 4.2). I remember the KDE 2 to 3 transition, it wasn't so painful. I also get this feeling that KDE is becoming more Gnomish and some of the KDE 3 features won't be re-implemented. I'll try again after KDE 4.2 b2 gets packaged. I wouldn't recommend Kubuntu for a new user, it would have to be Ubuntu, or a different distro for KDE. Kubuntu is Ubuntu's step child.
</rant>

[bsoderror]

Re: KDE 4.2 (beta)

[quote=Rog131 ]
> KDE 4.2 Beta 2 Release Announcement

KDE 4.2 Beta 2 Provides First Look at Upcoming User Experience

KDE Commmunity Ships Second Beta Release of KDE 4.2, Inviting Community to Test and Report Bugs

Thanx for the post Rog. Got it and I like it! Installed while at work last night so haven't played with it yet. Although I did change back to OpenGL from Xrender and it seems just as quick, maybe I'm just happy!

bob@kubuntu:~$ kde4-config --version
Qt: 4.4.3
KDE: 4.1.85 (KDE 4.1.85 (KDE 4.2 Beta2))
kde4-config: 1.0
bob@kubuntu:~$

[Primoz]

Re: KDE 4.2 (beta)

OK this is probably an "Capitan Obvious" statement, but the KDE4.2beta2 update are available for Kubuntu.
I still have some problem with plasma appearance, but It got better now Arezzo (it's the one I tried) works quite good for panel background not that much as anything else... Arezzo on panel looks almost like mac os dock ; even though unintentional..