Running KDE4 again in Gutsy

I was so impressed with KDE4 in Kubuntu Hardy that I've reinstalled it to my Kubuntu laptop. The issue I had with Pidgin appears to have been fixed (although many Gnome apps still don't look that great in it).

I've added the extragear-plasma package and put in a few widgets, as well as changed the wallpaper, and here is the result:

It really is very impressive - can't wait to see how KDE4 develops over the next year or so! I imagine we can expect plenty more widgets - in fact, from KDE 4.1 it should support Mac OS X Dashboard widgets, which is good as I would like to use the BBC Radio Last.fm widget so I can listen to 6music and scrobble the tracks to my profile. I may even see if I can convert it into a KDE4 version myself as I have downloaded it and will see how simple it is. I suspect I won't be able to, but if necessary I can wait for KDE 4.1.

Running KDE4 in Kubuntu Hardy on VirtualBox

I've installed Kubuntu Hardy Alpha 4 in VirtualBox on my Vista laptop and added the KDE4 desktop (just install the KDE4core metapackage) to see how it was coming along. I must say, I'm impressed by the changes that have taken place so far.

Of particular interest is the extragear-plasma package. This includes a number of widgets, including the KDEtwitter widget (which I really want as Linux currently lacks a decent desktop Twitter client - I like Twhirl on Windows but until Adobe AIR is available for Linux there's no prospect of a Linux version of that), a 3D globe (which won't work in VirtualBox unfortunately as the simulated graphics card is not very good) and a comic strip widget which includes Dilbert (which I really like, and that way I wouldn't need to visit the website every day), Garfield, and UserFriendly.

Here's a picture of the desktop:
As you may have gathered, I'm now thinking I will probably use KDE4 in Kubuntu Hardy, even if I can't get Pidgin to work with it - I've got too many IM accounts anyway, and it supports Jabber so my Meebo, Google Talk and Social.IM accounts will work, as will my MSN one, and that's all I really use.

Anyway, hope you like the look of KDE4!

Apparently, I can't go more than a week without changing my desktop around...

I got fed up with the Vista-esque themes and changed back to the regular Kubuntu ones. I've also ditched the themes for Firefox and Thunderbird, but Firefox I've given the great KDEFF theme, which fits in well with KDE.

I've also given Tasty Menu another try. The Kubuntu version seems to have improved a lot since I last used it - it behaves like a menu now, and you don't have to close it down yourself anymore. Here's what it looks like:




Now, Tasty Menu is a lot tastier than it was!

Official KDE 4.0.0 Release Announcement

KDE 4.0 IS HERE! It's not perfect (I can't get Pidgin to work in it, grrr...), but it's already looking pretty cool!

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