KDE 4.4 Set to Launch in Two Weeks

For Linux users, especially those using the KDE desktop environment, February 9 is going to be a fun day. That’s the day that KDE 4.4 will be released, and like all major version increments before it, there’s a lot that it’s going to bring to the table. I’m most excited because 4.3 brought on so many great changes, that I actually started to like it. It wasn’t until that particular release where I finally got around to upgrading from KDE 3.5.

As a reminder, I professed my new-found love for KDE 4 back in October. The article was called, “KDE 4 Isn’t Too Bad, After All“, and it lists all of the reasons why I finally gave up on KDE 3. If you’re still on the fence and don’t know whether to upgrade, I highly recommend reading through that article. You might just see things the same way I did and decide that the time is right to upgrade.

After that article was published, I found out that I was far from being the only one who hated the desktop environment up to that point, but 4.3 made major strides and impressed many. It’s for that reason that I have huge hopes for 4.4, which should make what I consider to be the best Linux environment even better. So what’s exactly in store that’s worth caring about?

For one, the Nepomuk indexer has been vastly improved, and should be much faster going forward. I’m glad to know this, because the performance of the previous version is one reason I currently have Nepomuk disabled. In addition, the Plasma desktop has also seen some nice improvements, or as the developers say, it’s “further polished“. As a result, the widgets explorer has been revamped, and the widgets themselves can now easily be shared over a network.

Another notable new feature is the introduction of some new tools or applications. These include Blogilo, which as you’d expect will help you post to your blog, along with Cantor and Rocs, two scientific applications that I probably won’t be able to understand. It’s also noted that Gwenview and Dolphin have been further improved. Also, 4.4 will be the first time we’ll see the brand-new KAuth authorization framework put into place.

I can’t wait to give 4.4 a test for myself… would these next two weeks hurry up already?

The Plasma Desktop has been further polished. Many user interface elements have received attention by developers and designers. The new widget explorer provides a richer experience for managing desktop widgets. Plasma widgets can now be shared with other users over the network and the handling of storage devices in the desktop shell has been streamlined. Also, in 4.4 Plasma’s little sibling, the Netbook shell debuts as a technology preview.