Tuesday, we reported that the KDE project had released the first beta of KDE 4.1, the release that is supposed to be ready to replace KDE3 on normal users' desktops. The information and marketing speak in the press release sure was promising, so Ars decided to take the KDE 4.1 beta out for a spin.
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Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:2008-02-29
I don't know about that. I find it very soothing looking. Nothing brash looking takes over the screen, and the looks that they've chosen just seem to flow. I've been using 4.0 for a while, and many people who have never used Linux are impressed with its looks/usability. With 4.1, the artists seem to be making the tweaks necessary to really make KDE pop (in my humble opinion) If it really does seem that bad to you, maybe you could help with the creation of some themes (the KDE site had a contest not too long ago for Plasma themes). I'm not much of an artist myself, so I couldn't do it (on top of that, as I've stated, I like the way KDE 4 looks, especially 4.1). Anyway, to each his own. Take it easy.
Member since:2005-11-12
Member since:2005-11-21
And what is with all the wasted space in the window borders and such?
ew.
This especially:
http://www.thecodingstudio.com/opensource/linux/screenshots/scaled/...
Is it just me or did we get happy with our up/down right/left arrows to the point that every textfield has one whether it needs it or not and the scrolling needs it on both ends.
Add the fat footer it really looks bad.
Member since:2007-02-05
I didn't like the default theme either. It felt very dark and just didn't appeal to me. But it was the easiest thing in the world to pick a new one. 5 or 6 come by default, more are a single click away (there's a 'Get New Themes' button that integrates really well with kde-look.org and will help you download new ones. Here are a couple screenshots of the theme I use and how to pick a new one:
My desktop (with a folder view plasmoid showing the desktop folder):
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/viewPhoto?uname=reldruH&aid=52058971...
The theme selector with all the default ones:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/viewPhoto?uname=reldruH&aid=52058971...
The default colorscheme (I forgot I had changed it):
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/viewPhoto?uname=reldruH&aid=52058971...
Member since:2005-12-31
Member since:2007-12-12
The only problem i have with the KDE4 user interface is the incredibly small fonts they use. Huge dialogs with huge unused empty spaces, which are caused by these small fonts. It makes the dialogs hard to read, and they are confusing..
Other than that i like KDE4's modern looks, and it seems like it will be great some day for KDE fans. I'm still using Gnome though, but that is a personal preference.
Member since:2005-11-12
t looks like Vista and OSX's love child with autism.
You truly have a gift for words. That line cracked me up. I don't know if I like the new direction of KDE either. It looks like the old gel craze in UIs that was popular in 1990. It is concerning that people are saying a lot of the components are unstable. I wouldn't dare use it for production use.
Member since:2006-12-16
I agree - the buttons still look very ugly and unpolished - even looking at the window edges, they are unrounded and rather "sharp".
KDE really needs to fix these minor things to really make their desktop environment shine imho. It has a long way to go from the usability point of view...
Dave
Member since:2005-10-01
Member since:2006-05-30
Personally, if I wanted to use OSX or Vista, I'd just install one of them. But, I guess there will always be a demand on the "other" end of the *nix user community that wants to copy off of the mainstream OSes. I remember back when FVWM95 was the default RedHat window manager.
However, I find this recent obsession over widget toolkits to be rather silly. Not only does all this work have to keep being redone over and over, but the end results are ugly and often less functional. If we were making progress towards some UI nirvana, then it'd be great, but I'm pretty sure such a state doesn't even exist (though tiling WMs are close). I just want my UIs to not waste screen real estate or get in the way.
Another thing that annoys me about KDE is that there's now all these K-apps out there that you have to be careful to avoid. Installing them will drag in a mess of KDE/Qt dependencies and bloat your system. The majority of these projects disappear so fast that by the time you really get used to it, development has ceased. But then, you can take one look at KDE and rightly assume that it's an environment that draws in ADD-afflicted latest fad-chasers.
Member since:
2007-01-01
http://www.thecodingstudio.com/opensource/linux/screenshots/index.p...