KDE 4.0.0 has been released onto the world. "The KDE Community is thrilled to announce the immediate availability of KDE 4.0. This significant release marks both the end of the long and intensive development cycle leading up to KDE 4.0 and the beginning of the KDE 4 era." KDE 4.0 is the first release of "KDE 4", but take note that the developers have clearly stated that KDE 4.0 is not KDE 4, but more of a base release with all the underlying systems ready to go, but with still a lot of work to be done on the user-visible side. Download it from the KDE 4.0 info page. Update: Screenshots.
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Member since:2006-03-20
http://etotheipiplusone.com/kde4daily/docs/734472-initial.png
http://etotheipiplusone.com/kde4daily/docs/758759-initial.png
I sure hope their theming capabilities are quite extensive, because that looks hilariously bad in regards to graphical design.
Edited 2008-01-11 14:24 UTC
Member since:2005-11-14
Member since:2006-02-15
I very much dislike the theme in those pictures (lots of sleek and clean surfaces, and then suddenly huge difference in contrast in totally illogical places) but I don't know if that's the default theme. Though, it's not that much of a problem as the theme can be changed, and distros will most likely also choose something other than the default theme.
Member since:2005-11-12
http://etotheipiplusone.com/kde4daily/docs/758759-initial.png
That screenshot would probably look better if you turned on composite.
Member since:2006-08-10
In your first screenshot: http://etotheipiplusone.com/kde4-svn-03-01-07.png
What are you using to display the system statistics? That is one thing I could not figure out how to do in the 3.5 series. (I'm pretty new). Is that something that is KDE4 specific? Can it also show a histograph of network activity?
Member since:2005-07-07
Member since:
2007-08-03
I've been following the development of KDE4.0.0 in microscopic detail for about a year now, and have seen from the mailing lists and the huge amount of SVN activity just how many tough technical choices and pure hard slog the devs have gone through, so even though finally kicking out the first of the KDE4 series must be its own reward, I'd like to say "Thanks and congrats!" to the KDE team!
). While it's definitely still a quirky and incomplete release which I can't in good conscience recommend to absolutely everybody, I have to say that 4.0.0 has wildly exceeded my expectations and is nothing like the crashy, resource guzzling mess that I was expecting 
As someone who was building from SVN every day since last January (when KDE4 running in a Xephyr window looked a little like this:
http://etotheipiplusone.com/kde4-svn-03-01-07.png
), I was worried that KDE4.0.0 would fall *massively* short of the expectations that people had, and set out on a quest to try and gently deflate these expectations so that they were more in line with what I was expecting (hell, I was claiming that KDE4.0.0 would Eat Your Children before it became fashionable!
Incidentally, I still have an old build from my work on KDE4Daily, so I put a side-by-side comparison to show how much has changed. The screenshots are from ~8th November and 1am this morning, respectively:
http://etotheipiplusone.com/kde4daily/docs/734472-initial.png
http://etotheipiplusone.com/kde4daily/docs/758759-initial.png
Edited 2008-01-11 13:08 UTC