A Second Beta Of KDE SC 4.9 Released

[phoronix]

Phoronix: A Second Beta Of KDE SC 4.9 Released

Just one week after the first KDE SC 4.9 beta, a second beta of this six-month KDE desktop update is now available with more fixes...

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=MTExODk

[uid313]

Always when I tried KDE, I found it very pretty, but I found it difficult to use.

The interface would be cluttered with buttons, menus, toolbars and stuff. They would cram as much as features and functionality into the GUI as possible.
I'd get overwhelmed by it. It lacks simplicity.

Also, I find it too difficult to use the KDE start menu, it required too much effort, navigation and clicks.

[Kano]

You can configure it to your own needs, also you can use classic mode for menu as well. Basically it is very similar to win - unity is however very different.

[Teho]

AThe interface would be cluttered with buttons, menus, toolbars and stuff. They would cram as much as features and functionality into the GUI as possible.
I'd get overwhelmed by it. It lacks simplicity.

The beaty of KDE is its customizability. You can decide what buttons are shown in toolbar and in what size and with text or not or disable it completely. You can hide the menubar completely. move it to titlebar, use global menu or hide it under a button. You can decide what buttons are shown in titlebar and in what order or disable it completely. Usually all UI elements can be moved or hidden completely if desired. The same is true for the desktop. It's based completely on plasmoids that you can move, resize, remove or replace. There are at least five different menus you can use for example.

Here's a screenshot of my minimal KDE setup.

[Alliancemd]

Always when I tried KDE, I found it very pretty, but I found it difficult to use.

The interface would be cluttered with buttons, menus, toolbars and stuff. They would cram as much as features and functionality into the GUI as possible.
I'd get overwhelmed by it. It lacks simplicity.

Also, I find it too difficult to use the KDE start menu, it required too much effort, navigation and clicks.

When I do a fresh install I always take my time to go through the System Settings and configure it to my liking...
Recommend you doing the same, it's really awesome how you can make it just the way you want it.

[cbamber85]

When I do a fresh install I always take my time to go through the System Settings and configure it to my liking...
Recommend you doing the same, it's really awesome how you can make it just the way you want it.

The fact that just about everyone has to spend hours configuring KDE after they install it, means the designers got it wrong. I used to go through this rigmarole until Gnome 3 came along, now if I need to tweak the appearance at a fine level I just crack open a .js file (so I don't bother), and the interface only exposes buttons I'll actually ever need. Life is easier now.

[Gekko]

Here's a screenshot of my minimal KDE setup.

Very nice - how did you do this? I can't find the option to put the menubar in the titlebar. And what icon theme are you using?

[Teho]

The fact that just about everyone has to spend hours configuring KDE after they install it, means the designers got it wrong.

I doubt that many do but at least it's possible. The defaults are quite good altough I don't personally agree on everything. What brought me to Linux in a first place was the possibility to configure absolutely everything to my liking. I don't know about others but I find it unfortunate that this luxury is slowly fading away. The happy life with Gnome ends at the point where you no longer agree with its designers.

[Awesomeness]

Always when I tried KDE, I found it very pretty, but I found it difficult to use.

Then do not use it! It is just one choice of many alternatives.
If you are too stupid for KDE software, use software for simple-minded people like Unity.

[ov1d1u]

I used KDE until about a week ago, but somehow it seems to get buggy and buggy with every new release. In more than one year of using it, I seen how KDE breaks opening of XML-based files (bug reported by me), how my desktop icons order get messed up with every login, how the widgets forgets their size after logout and more.

I was a big fan of KDE 3.x series, but KDE 4 seems to be developed by some 10-years schoolboys...

P.S. Seems that the bug with opening XML-based files is still not fixed. A very nice experience for a developer who use Code::Blocks and wants to open a project file.