KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

Mikko777 · 2010-01-10 20:59:47

spupy wrote:

flamelab wrote:
FYI, Nepomuk is much (much) better in KDE 4.4.
Does it do simple locate-like search from Dolphin? I used KDEmod for 1 week in december, but the search in dolphin never worked. I want to search my files without all the fancy metadata.

It does do filesearches by filename but i have no idea whether or not that works without nepomuk/strigi.

firewalker · 2010-02-02 22:53:45

I tried today KDE 4.3.98. :(:(

dyscoria · 2010-02-02 22:58:47

well firewalker, looks like kde4 is just not for you!

it is definitely for me though.

with koffice2 gaining speed, i will soon have nothing but KDE/Qt apps running (aside from firefox... if only opera had noscript and adblock plus).

venky80 · 2010-02-02 23:03:25

except the lack of any easy way to use a bluetooth headset with KDE, and crazy pop up notifications which makes full screen video flicker.
I am happy.

firewalker · 2010-02-02 23:03:35

dyscoria wrote:

well firewalker, looks like kde4 is just not for you!

Well, it definitely isn't.

dyscoria · 2010-02-02 23:08:50

firewalker wrote:

dyscoria wrote:
well firewalker, looks like kde4 is just not for you!
Well, it definitely isn't.

so if you are still unconvinced by kde4 after all the positive feedback, will you be "forced" to drop arch?

Misfit138 · 2010-02-02 23:13:43

I moved back to KDE on all but one of my machines, which is still Openbox.
Nothing major to complain about other than general software annoyances. Quick and stable for me, even worked fine with 192MB RAM on an old Celeron test machine.

firewalker · 2010-02-02 23:18:58

dyscoria wrote:

firewalker wrote:
dyscoria wrote:
well firewalker, looks like kde4 is just not for you!
Well, it definitely isn't.
so if you are still unconvinced by kde4 after all the positive feedback, will you be "forced" to drop arch?

Yes. I will keep Arch as long it is possible to maintain a system with KDE 3.5.x. After that is is Debian Stable or Gentoo (or one with KDE 3.5.x). If KDE 3.5.x gets deprecated and becomes unusable (due to dependencies) I will probably return to Arch and select a different D.E. if KDE 4 doesn't satisfy me (xfce more likely).

mythus · 2010-02-03 01:06:09

dyscoria wrote:

well firewalker, looks like kde4 is just not for you!
it is definitely for me though.
with koffice2 gaining speed, i will soon have nothing but KDE/Qt apps running (aside from firefox... if only opera had noscript and adblock plus).

Greetings,

Opera does have adblock a degree, it just works differently in Opera than in firefox. It is called Block Content, and is a native function not needing any plug in or add on. Just go to a page that has an ad and right click to get the menu and select block content. That will allow you to select any/all content that you want to block and it will keep that content blocked from then on as a permanent setting.

You can also block any kind of scripts from ever running. You can manage which kind/if any scripts you want to be able to run in Tools -> Quick Preferences. I should be mentioned that you can detail everything that can be loaded on a site including content you want to block and manage those blocked content and what not and even block all images and what have you, in Tools > Preferences.

Yeah, it takes a little extra effort on your part, but IMO, this way is better since it gives me finer control over what I want to load and not load on my browser, and can be used to block more than just ads.

Also, for those who want firebug, Opera has it called Dragonfly, as part of the browser. Just use Tools -> Advance-> Developer Tools.

It does all of this, is lighter than firefox, and can natively use your Qt style.

AngryKoala · 2010-02-03 03:56:31

I use KDE 4.3 and I'm very satisfied with its usability and look.

toxygen · 2010-02-03 06:04:14

firewalker wrote:

Yes. I will keep Arch as long it is possible to maintain a system with KDE 3.5.x. After that is is Debian Stable or Gentoo (or one with KDE 3.5.x). If KDE 3.5.x gets deprecated and becomes unusable (due to dependencies) I will probably return to Arch and select a different D.E. if KDE 4 doesn't satisfy me (xfce more likely).

I was also thinking of sticking to kde 3.5.x for as long as it was around, possibly switching distro's a long the way. but I've finally made my peace with kde 4.3, and I'm thinking by the time 4.5 comes around, kde 3.5 will be a fond memory. Other than how versatile konqueror was, and some plasma glitches here and there, I really dont miss kde 3.5 anymore. And knowing in 4.4+ things will be improved, expanded and fixed, only brings me joy.

[jebus i sound like a fanboy]

funkyou · 2010-02-03 07:25:43

dyscoria wrote:

(aside from firefox... if only opera had noscript and adblock plus).

noscript: Go to Tools --> Quick Preferences -> Enable/Disable Javascript. You can disable it globally and enable it only for specific sites in Tools --> Quick Preferences --> Edit Site Preferences. Because Opera has such an awesome UI, you can even create your own buttons for that.

adblock: There are some quite nice filter lists out there. I just use a random one and so far i never needed to update or modify it, it just works.

Its not the same like in Firefox, but the functionality is definitely there

On topic: My only real griefs with KDE are the absence of a awesome web browser and a featureful native office suite (just a matter of time). And the performance could be a bit better, remember all those blog posts about Qt4 being so much faster and better than Qt3? Well, i havent seen that yet...

Apart from that its quite perfect for my needs.

axel668 · 2010-02-03 08:54:51

IMHO KDE4 is great from a usability perspective, much better than Gnome. And it's pretty fast and lean these days (just don't turn on compositing effects on slower machines). Only criticism is that it is a bit too generous with screen space (for smaller screens at least), so on my 1280x800 laptop I went for LXDE instead.

The lack of QT applications in some areas (agreeing on Amarok - it's too bloated while Minirok lacks basic playlist support) is not an issue, because integration of GTK apps is very good if you use QtCurve. As web browser Arora looks very promising, I used to be a huge Opera fan since the 90s but I fear they are doomed due to not having a decent extension API.

Last edited by axel668 (2010-02-03 08:55:13)

KimTjik · 2010-02-03 09:43:03

Personally KDE and Gnome isn't my cup of tea. Awesome, Window-maker and PekWM are. My workstation at work however runs Arch + KDE4, and my mother-in-laws computer, which I remotely keep a watching eye over, does as well.

As a working station:
- I haven't had a single issue since it initially was installed, version 4.1, besides some plasma widget that crashed in the beginning and a temporary bug that sent you back to login screen if I changed both theme and colour at ones (as I remember it was solved by an update after a week or two). Such crashes cause no instability however. If choosing a full blown DE KDE4 is in my impression very good. Dolphin is a bit too slow on older machines, but is a good file-manager with support for all the necessary tasks for serious work. Okular is likewise good, with better performance for special fields in PDF documents than Adobe's own reader, and it does understand DVI and other formats as well. For those who wish KDE4 is pretty cool in that you for example can define window behaviour very exact, like attaching the terminal to a specific desktop and let it be attached to the background and so on.

- My mother-in-law, a typical surfer and media user with too few clues about computing, it has worked surprisingly well. The only issue I remember had to do with non specific KDE stuff, and more related to HAL and its handling of optical disks. On the negative side, which in itself is a good thing, is that the modularity of KDE4 makes it "dangerous" for clicking-randomly-all-over-the-desktop-users; if widgets gets unlocked the desktop easily becomes a piece of confusing Picasso art, and the users suddenly stares confused at it not even finding the menu-button.

Conclusion: I haven't been able to discover any proof for why KDE4 should be such a bad environment. I don't even know what crashes they're talking about. The only annoyances I encountered were only bothering me in early releases of KDE4.1.

mcsaba77 · 2010-02-03 10:42:24

firewalker wrote:

dyscoria wrote:
firewalker wrote:
Well, it definitely isn't.
so if you are still unconvinced by kde4 after all the positive feedback, will you be "forced" to drop arch?
Yes. I will keep Arch as long it is possible to maintain a system with KDE 3.5.x. After that is is Debian Stable or Gentoo (or one with KDE 3.5.x). If KDE 3.5.x gets deprecated and becomes unusable (due to dependencies) I will probably return to Arch and select a different D.E. if KDE 4 doesn't satisfy me (xfce more likely).

Instead of feedback what you really wanted was support for a decision you already made. So I guess saying how satisfied I am with KDE 4.3.x and all the improvements it offers over 3.5.x doesn't really matter, does it?

firewalker · 2010-02-03 10:57:58

mcsaba77 wrote:

Instead of feedback what you really wanted was support for a decision you already made. So I guess saying how satisfied I am with KDE 4.3.x and all the improvements it offers over 3.5.x doesn't really matter, does it?

What I want (and as it turns many other users want) is upstream as bug reports or features requests. You are more than welcome to say the things that KDE 4 offers to you. This is the meaning of this thread. As far as changing my decision... No. It doesn't really matter.

I will always have a KDE 4 station to monitor it's progress. I can't make it my default D.E. on my primary workstation. Not now.

dyscoria · 2010-02-03 11:49:14

mythus wrote:

...

funkyou wrote:

...

hmmm thanks guys for the advice! i'm gonna go check out opera again. i doubt script blocking on opera will offer quite as fine-grained control as noscript, but i'll see if it's good enough for my needs. and the comment about making custom buttons intrigues me

Teho · 2010-02-04 14:07:49

I don't really have any experince of anyother DE than KDE, Gnome and Windows, if that counts. But with my experience I find KDE the most enjoyable of 'em all. I don't like the way gnome hides all the options from users and it feels outdated in nearly everyway compared to KDE.

KDE applications are mostly very good and they fit together nicely. It feels modern and looks good. I haven't really had any big problems except the obvious bugs with beta. So yes, I'm satisfied with KDE and with current style of developement I probably will be in the future too.

PeachyPeach · 2010-02-14 21:44:29

Anyone else been in the scene long enough to remember when KDE 3.0 came out? It horrible! I even compiled it for my specific hardware and it still didn't fix my problems, so I went back to 2.x for as long as I could. Eventually I tried it again at about 3.3 and it was usable. My point is, KDE has always taken things out of beta before they're ready for widespread use, and I imagine this will not change. It's a practice I strongly disagree with: if I wanted unstable software I'd run betas...or Windows.

I've got KDE 4.4 on my desktop and it's usable again (can't say the same for Amarok *grumble*). So they still don't have bluetooth figured out? *sigh* I guess my laptop will continue to run Gnome.

Vamp898 · 2010-02-14 21:55:12

4.4 is running fine on me

mythus · 2010-02-15 14:04:38

Same here, loving KDE4.4, just hope they fix the kopete/yahoo IM issue.

toxygen · 2010-02-15 14:55:58

PeachyPeach wrote:

Anyone else been in the scene long enough to remember when KDE 3.0 came out? It horrible! I even compiled it for my specific hardware and it still didn't fix my problems, so I went back to 2.x for as long as I could. Eventually I tried it again at about 3.3 and it was usable. My point is, KDE has always taken things out of beta before they're ready for widespread use, and I imagine this will not change. It's a practice I strongly disagree with: if I wanted unstable software I'd run betas...or Windows.
I've got KDE 4.4 on my desktop and it's usable again (can't say the same for Amarok *grumble*). So they still don't have bluetooth figured out? *sigh* I guess my laptop will continue to run Gnome.

I remember kde 3.0 and thinking "jeez, kde is only getting worse and worse" after the earlier releases, and went back to windowmaker. After a while, due to other circumstances, i took a windows xp detour for a couple of years, and coming back to linux, tried out kde 3.5 and was amazed at how great it was. I figured kde 4.5 would be where i would make the switch, but hearing too many good things from fellow archers about kde 4.3, i made the jump, and I've decided to stick to kde for the time being. I love the implementation of a DE that kde offers, and I see lots of good things coming down the line.

sHyLoCk · 2010-02-15 14:59:48

I found kde4.3.1 better than 4.4. It just feels heavy on my system!

firewalker · 2010-02-17 19:28:46

On of the things that is really annoying for me. Let's say you have some instances of a program (lets say firefox). You can see them "stashed" on the task bar. You want to select a one of those instances. Click on the pile and you can select the one you want. Some times though (if you don't act fast enough) a PopUp will emerge. After that you will have to wait for it to go away. In order to select the instance under it.

heaven · 2010-04-27 10:25:03

Hi. I have some problems with the KDE 4.4 performance and I need to ask who has the same problem too?
I've been already notified kde developers about this issue. More details you can find here — http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=234463
I am not sure is it kde issue or not. So, If you have the same problem, please, answer or vote for this bug.
Regards.

Last edited by heaven (2010-04-27 10:26:31)

Arch Linux

#26 2010-01-10 20:59:47

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

#27 2010-02-02 22:53:45

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

#28 2010-02-02 22:58:47

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

#29 2010-02-02 23:03:25

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

#30 2010-02-02 23:03:35

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

#31 2010-02-02 23:08:50

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

#32 2010-02-02 23:13:43

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

#33 2010-02-02 23:18:58

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

#34 2010-02-03 01:06:09

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

#35 2010-02-03 03:56:31

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

#36 2010-02-03 06:04:14

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

#37 2010-02-03 07:25:43

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

#38 2010-02-03 08:54:51

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

#39 2010-02-03 09:43:03

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

#40 2010-02-03 10:42:24

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

#41 2010-02-03 10:57:58

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

#42 2010-02-03 11:49:14

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

#43 2010-02-04 14:07:49

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

#44 2010-02-14 21:44:29

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

#45 2010-02-14 21:55:12

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

#46 2010-02-15 14:04:38

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

#47 2010-02-15 14:55:58

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

#48 2010-02-15 14:59:48

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

#49 2010-02-17 19:28:46

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

#50 2010-04-27 10:25:03

Re: KDE 4 usability. Users Opinions.

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