KDE 4.0 Beta 2 Released

It’s only been a month since Beta 1 was released, but Beta 2 looks like it has come quite a way, as you will be able to see with the available screenshots on the official site. New since Beta 1 is an updated KOffice alpha release, new code gained from Google’s Summer of Code and various bugfixes all over. Most of KDE 4.0 has been feature-frozen, except for a few key features such as Plasma, a base for some killer applets.

I am a full-time KDE 3.5 user and have never had much of a problem with it, but it’s hard to not get a little excited for 4.0 especially after checking out all of the Beta 2 screenshots. While GNOME is clean and concise, KDE is looking to really add some sensible visual appeal to the next release. Will OS X finally have a real competitor in the GUI department?

The KDE Community proudly presents the second Beta release for KDE 4.0. This release marks the beginning of the feature freeze and the stabilization of the current codebase. Simultaneously the KOffice developers have released their third Alpha release, marking significant improvements in this innovative office suite. Both KDE and KOffice have benefited from the Google Summer of Code, as most resulting code has now been merged.

Source: KDE.org