This is Part 1 of a Multi-part series of posts.
Part 2
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Open Source world or operating systems other than Windows or Mac, there lies a magical world of free (as in freedom) software. Many of you are already accustomed to free (as in beer) software, or freeware. But what makes Open Source Free software so unique is that when it is licensed under something like the
GNU General Public License anybody has the freedom to change, modify, and redistribute that software either for money or for free (as in beer). That means that you could have thousands of individuals working on a piece of software all around the world, creating localized language packs, improving performance, squashing bugs, and fixing security holes.
Sounds pretty sweet, right? And I'm about to blow your mind, because not only is there software like
LibreOffice or
GIMP that's Open Source, but there's a whole slew of Operating Systems. Versions of
Unix, reincarnations of
BeOS, and the very popular Unix-like
GNU/Linux (often shortened to just Linux). I'm going to be specifically looking at GNU/Linux for this multi-part post, and even more specifically I'm going to be comparing the
Desktop Environments that are built on the GNU/Linux Distribution
Ubuntu. These posts will be spaced far enough apart to allow me to use the systems for a good week or two. After I have tested the different "major" Desktop Environments I'll have a final post with my conclusion and opinion. All of these OS's are run on my work computer, which is an HP ProBook 6460b with an Intel Core i5 2520m, 8GB of RAM, and 500GB 7200RPM drive with a custom partition setup. This should be more than adequate to run all of these Desktop Environments.
Today I'm going to give you a peek at the
KDE 4.8 environment running on
Kubuntu 12.04. Kubuntu is the KDE environment running on the Ubuntu Core, so any software that works in Ubuntu will work in Kubuntu, and vice versa. Installing Kubuntu is straightforward and easy, and holds the user's hands through the whole install. I did some advanced partitioning for my computer because I have to run Windows for work, and I created an independent partition to store music and games that could be used and shared by both Kubuntu and Windows. So, the options to do advanced configurations was there, but you don't have to be a computer wizard to install it.
After Kubuntu was installed, I was met with a gray background, a slightly transparent taskpanel, and a blue rounded square with a white "K" overlapping a gear in the left. The theme that KDE uses by default is called "Air" and it has a Mac OSX meets Windows Aero vibe. This of course can be changed with other themes that can be downloaded from the Theme Settings application or from
kde-look.org. The active window also has a soft neon blue glow that extends just a few pixels out before fading away. It draws attention to the current window with out being obnoxious. To the right of the taskpanel is the notification area, where your network status, battery status, and audio status icons all reside, along with other handy icons like Dropbox or your bluetooth connections. It reminds me of windows but with more polish and a faster response.
Clicking the "K" button brings up a launcher that has five sections: Favorites, Applications, Computer, Recently Used, and Leave. Favorites are where all of your favorite apps are stored for quick access if you don't want them pinned to your taskbar or on your desktop. Applications is where all of your installed apps are located, organized by type, such as Internet, Games, Office, and Utilities. Computer is where you can access your Home folder, remote folders, bluetooth folders, and pretty much any other storage device. Recently used is bisected to display your last four recently used apps, and your last four recently used locations. Leave is where your log off, shutdown, and restart buttons are found.
Kubuntu 12.04 ships with Rekonq as its default web browser,
Amarok as it's default music player,
Dragon Player as it's Video Player, LibreOffice as its office suite,
Kopete as its IM client, and
Kontact as its e-mail client. There are more programs installed other than just those, but I wager that those will be the most used by the average user. To install and uninstall software, Kubuntu uses a software distributor called Muon (an KDE version of the Ubuntu Software Center). I didn't care for Rekonq, and replaced it with Chromium and Firefox, and Amarok crashed on me constantly, so I replaced it with
Clementine. I didn't have a need for Kontact, so I completely uninstalled it. The beauty was that I did all of that from within Muon, which also has user reviews, so discovering new software is a little easier to sift through the junk. You can also install the Ubuntu Software Center, but Muon is specifically designed to showcase KDE Apps first and foremost, and for the sake of better integration I recommend using Muon in Kubuntu.
KDE uses a platform called the Plasma Desktop that uses Plasmoids, which are one part widgets and one part buttons. It also uses the
File Manager Dolphin, which is similar to Windows' Explorer or Mac Finder. As you can see on my desktop, I have to Plasmoids on the main desktop that show the time, and my computer's resource usage. However, the trashcan, Chromium Icon, and the Home Folder that are all docked to my taskpanel are also Plasmoids. You can also add more Plasmoids by clicking a small button that has what looks like half of a yin-yang with little dots trailing its tail. This brings up another menu that lets you adjust the taskpanel properties and also add widgets. As you can see in my screenshot, there are already quite a few widgets installed, with the option to download others. To use a widget, simply drag and drop from the bar to the desktop.
Kubuntu acts and looks very similar to a Windows Environment, it Even has a "snap" function like Windows 7, but takes it one step further and allows you to do fourths of the screen instead of just halves. Right Clicking brings up the normal context menus, the KDE button operates like a Start Button, and the taskpanel and notification area layout is similar to Windows' Taskbar and notification area. This makes adjusting from a Windows Environment to a KDE environment much smoother and easier. And even though KDE shares many similarities with Windows, it finds a way to make it all look and feel faster, cleaner, and even beautiful.
KDE is truly a beautiful Desktop Environment that I have been absolutely delighted to use for the last few weeks. It has raised the bar and my expectations for the other Desktop Environments, and I will be testing those over the next few months.
*UPDATE*
This week I've been playing with
KDE Plasma Active on a spare EliteBook 2730p we had lying around the office. They have a feature called "Activities" which switches between different configurations and desktops. I remembered Kubuntu having a button called Activities, so when I kicked on the desktop at home that is still running KDE I went ahead and tried clicking Activities. And then my world was changed.
Activities is a concept where you can group specific widgets, applications, and shortcuts to specific "activities" (those KDE guys sure are clever). What's beautiful about this, at least for me, is that I can have a "Games" activity with widgets for heat and power consumption, the shortcuts to games or Desura, or I can have an Activity for "Writing" with shortcuts for writing apps, the Dictionary Widget, the conversion widget (for those weird times that I need metric conversion), and I can eliminate the distracting widgets or apps from my desktop to focus on writing. It's like having a desktop, within your desktop!
Once you've set up your activities, you can simply switch between them using either a key command, or pressing the activities button and clicking on the activity you want to switch to. And, let's say that I open a game in my "Writing" Activitiy, but I don't want that game there. I can right click on the top menubar of the program, and send it to a specific activity.
Gallery:
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| Clementine Running in Kubuntu | . |
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| Dolphin with a preview of a selected Folder. |
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| Dolphin with default view mode. |
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| Dolphin with Preview mode. |
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| Muon Software Center with Ratings | . |
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| Muon Software Center with Installed Programs |
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| Kubuntu Settings Panel |
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| Theme Settings |
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| Adding More Themes |
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| Focus Box with Soft Neon Blue Glow |
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| Ubuntu Software Center in Kubuntu |
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| A Game in Ubuntu Software Center |
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| Installing New Widgets. |
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After Kubuntu was installed, I was met with a gray background, a slightly transparent taskpanel, and a blue rounded square with a white "K" overlapping a gear in the left. The theme that KDE uses by default is called "Air" and it has a Mac OSX meets Windows Aero vibe. This of course can be changed with other themes that can be downloaded from the Theme Settings application or from kde-look.org. The active window also has a soft neon blue glow that extends just a few pixels out before fading away. It draws attention to the current window with out being obnoxious. To the right of the taskpanel is the notification area, where your network status, battery status, and audio status icons all reside, along with other handy icons like Dropbox or your bluetooth connections. It reminds me of windows but with more polish and a faster response.
Clicking the "K" button brings up a launcher that has five sections: Favorites, Applications, Computer, Recently Used, and Leave. Favorites are where all of your favorite apps are stored for quick access if you don't want them pinned to your taskbar or on your desktop. Applications is where all of your installed apps are located, organized by type, such as Internet, Games, Office, and Utilities. Computer is where you can access your Home folder, remote folders, bluetooth folders, and pretty much any other storage device. Recently used is bisected to display your last four recently used apps, and your last four recently used locations. Leave is where your log off, shutdown, and restart buttons are found.
KDE uses a platform called the Plasma Desktop that uses Plasmoids, which are one part widgets and one part buttons. It also uses the File Manager Dolphin, which is similar to Windows' Explorer or Mac Finder. As you can see on my desktop, I have to Plasmoids on the main desktop that show the time, and my computer's resource usage. However, the trashcan, Chromium Icon, and the Home Folder that are all docked to my taskpanel are also Plasmoids. You can also add more Plasmoids by clicking a small button that has what looks like half of a yin-yang with little dots trailing its tail. This brings up another menu that lets you adjust the taskpanel properties and also add widgets. As you can see in my screenshot, there are already quite a few widgets installed, with the option to download others. To use a widget, simply drag and drop from the bar to the desktop.
Kubuntu acts and looks very similar to a Windows Environment, it Even has a "snap" function like Windows 7, but takes it one step further and allows you to do fourths of the screen instead of just halves. Right Clicking brings up the normal context menus, the KDE button operates like a Start Button, and the taskpanel and notification area layout is similar to Windows' Taskbar and notification area. This makes adjusting from a Windows Environment to a KDE environment much smoother and easier. And even though KDE shares many similarities with Windows, it finds a way to make it all look and feel faster, cleaner, and even beautiful.
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