KDE 4.0 Worth the Wait?

After months and months, and months, of waiting for the next major version of KDE, 4.0 was released last Friday. Like a launch of any major piece of software, there were mixed reactions regarding what’s new and how the updated environment is presented. Personally, I am going to hold off. I’ve been a KDE user for as long as I’ve used Linux, but 4.0 looks to focus on looks more than usability. The kicker and taskbar are a few of the biggest issues with me, but that will all come down to taste.

In all fairness, I haven’t touched the latest version yet, even on a LiveCD, but I don’t think I really have to in order to voice an opinion. There are numerous reviews out and about, some positive, some negative. I think most would universally agree, though, that there are still many lingering issues and 4.2-ish will be when KDE4 will begin to really replace KDE3.

I think this new major KDE release is a step in the good direction, and has most certainly the potential to attract more new Free Desktop users. I wasn’t a big KDE fan before, and did not become one, but I do like several of the UI changes: the new window manager decorations are pretty nice (I didn’t try compositing, doesn’t work in a virtual machine), and I especially like the icons, unlike the KDE 3.5 ones.

Source: Ikke’s Blog