# KDE 4.2 "The Answer" Released



## MetalheadGautham (Jan 29, 2009)

THE BIGGEST NEWS FOR THE START OF 2009.

Its finally OUT.

Reviews are praising it a LOT.

Anybody here got it ?

UPDATE:

MY REVIEW OF KDE 4.2:
*thesmallerbang.wordpress.com/2009/01/30/kde-42-the-answer-reviewed/

SCREENSHOT:
*www.kde.org/announcements/4.2/screenshots/desktop_thumb.png


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## Dark Star (Jan 29, 2009)

Will get it on 30th when Pardus will be released  No point in d/l and updating cooker now


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## Garbage (Jan 29, 2009)

Visual Tour to KDE 4.2 looks nice.


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## MetalheadGautham (Jan 29, 2009)

Installing it 
KDEmod 4.2 released the day KDE4.2 released


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## Liverpool_fan (Jan 29, 2009)

Is it more stable than 4.1? I certainly hope so. I faced a lot of problems with 4.1. Panel Crashing, slowness,etc.
Unfortunately since I have almost saturated my bandwidth, so I cant download it till the 17th.


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## MetalheadGautham (Jan 29, 2009)

Its much much much much more stable than KDE 4.1.
Infact, it was more stable than 4.1 even in its late beta stages 

Its almost close to KDE3.5.9 and the KDE team says that most laymen users can now safely upgrade to KDE4.2 from KDE 3.5.9 and not miss out on *most* things. Exceptions like KOffice2 and K3B still in beta exist though.


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## Dark Star (Jan 29, 2009)

I miss Kaffeine and K3b  both are in pre-alpha stage  Digikam will be released within few days


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## MetalheadGautham (Jan 29, 2009)

Me too. Kaffeine was the best media player ever, if one didn't need VLC's server capabilities.

K3B has NO alternative in the linux world. Its almost like GOD of burning.


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## Liverpool_fan (Jan 29, 2009)

In KDE4 I missed Kooka the most.


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## Dark Star (Jan 29, 2009)

> Kooka was dropped from the kdegraphics module for KDE 4. The reason for this is the lack of active development and maintenance for long time.
> However, there have been discussions around that, for example around this dot.kde.org story.
> 
> It was somebody speaking up interested in carrying on Kooka development. If you are a friend of Kooka, cross fingers, might be that development continues.
> ...


+

I never used kooka,, Xsane works fine for me  But I think someone should work on kooka


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## avinash.gamerboy (Jan 29, 2009)

KDE 4.2 is awesome ..it surpassed all Linux distro's 
i have read 3 review's about it and it is impressive


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## Dark Star (Jan 29, 2009)

^^Lol.. KDE 4 isn't a distro.. Its a Desktop Env.. 

@ All please post some link to genuine review ..


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## thewisecrab (Jan 29, 2009)

This is what I found: (though I think it's beta version of 4.2)
*adymo.blogspot.com/2009/01/kde4-review-from-inside-out-part-1.html


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## Dark Star (Jan 29, 2009)

^^Arrey apart from that , I have both par1 and 2  waiting to see atanu review


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## shady_inc (Jan 29, 2009)

> Its almost close to KDE3.5.9 and the KDE team says that most laymen users can now safely upgrade to KDE4.2 from KDE 3.5.9 and not miss out on *most* things. Exceptions like KOffice2 and K3B still in beta exist though.


I wouldn't say that.Downloaded KDEmod 4.2 yesterday.Dolphin has crashed twice on me till now.GTK apps look fugly.No K3b, no Amarok available.You still have to use kdesu systemsettings to edit certain things in System Settings [Administrator mode in 3.5.xx was great] to So, still quite a way to go before it matches 3.5.xx
On a good note, It's seems more responsive than even my XFCE installation while running certain apps.


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## Dark Star (Jan 29, 2009)

Huh.. Amarok is available .. 2.0.1.1 .... ALso there might be issue with KDE compilation by Arch team.. Better use openSUSE or Fedora Live cd


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## shady_inc (Jan 29, 2009)

Dark Star said:


> Huh.. Amarok is available .. 2.0.1.1 .... ALso there might be issue with KDE compilation by Arch team.. Better use openSUSE or Fedora Live cd


Wow...didn't know Amarok 2 was out already.Downloading it right away.!


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## Cool G5 (Jan 29, 2009)

MetalheadGautham said:


> K3B has NO alternative in the linux world. Its almost like GOD of burning.



+Infinite


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## MetalheadGautham (Jan 30, 2009)

*KDEmod4.2 "The Answer" gets 9/10 - SUPERB.*

I am posting right now from KDEmod4.2 in ArchLinux. KDEbase already had an update.

Anyway, KDE 4.2 is simply AWESOME.

Its still somewhat slow on 256MB RAM.

But the visual effects, plasmoids, menus and the whole interface - its simply fabulous. I have never seen a better Desktop Environment in my life, and this beats MacOS 10.5, Windows 7 and Gnome 2.4 hands down. Its ULTIMATE.

And now I am 99.99999% sure that Windows 7 superbar is nothing but an imitation of KDE4's Plasma Panel.

KWin-compositor is much lighter on resources than Compiz Fusion. I suppose this makes it the lightest composite window manager ever next to Xfce4.4-composite.

Konqueror has a spell checker which has a small issue - it checks spelling as I type each letter, and not as I type each word. So for example, when I just typed example, it underlined the word when I had finished typing "exa". But I can live with it.

KDE4.2 is much much more responsive compared to KDE4.1. Hats off to the KDE team.

And yeah, I am still sticking to Xfce4.4 because I have less RAM, however, when I get an upgrade, I am coming back to KDE4. And hopefully, KDE4.3 will be out by the time my new rig arrives, around June-July.


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## Cool G5 (Jan 30, 2009)

^Thanks for the small review.


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## MetalheadGautham (Jan 30, 2009)

^^Thanks for inspiring me to write a bigger review.
*thesmallerbang.wordpress.com/2009/01/30/kde-42-the-answer-reviewed/


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## Pat (Jan 30, 2009)

I LOLed reading your short review here


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## MetalheadGautham (Jan 30, 2009)

thanks. never written anything bigger in the 60 seconds I got while the thing was lagging like sh!t.

00:00 - me starts comp
00:20 - login menu
00:21 - startx
05:00 - KDE starts
08:00 - KDE stops lagging and konqueror opens
09:00 - I am replying
10:00 - enough of this madness
13:00 - the comp is finally off.



but thats a gazillion times better than KDE4.1 I must add.


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## hellknight (Jan 30, 2009)

Wow.. i think that i need to rethink my decision of no KDE on OpenSUSE 11.1.. i need to download it now.. waise.. KDE guys ruined AmaroK 2.. it doesn't have the powerful capabilites of the previous 1.x version.. like it doesn't has that equalizer thing and the Wikipedia's info font is aweful..


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## Dark Star (Jan 30, 2009)

^^wait for 2.1 version.. It will have revamped UI and nearly as powerful as 1.4.9  

Look at these brainstorm. .Looks fantastic for a complete ultimate media player *kde-look.org/content/show.php/A+Media+Player+for+KDE4?content=94472 | *kde-look.org/content/show.php/Amarok2+Look+and+Feel?content=93854 | *kde-look.org/content/show.php/Analog+DVB+TV+Recorder+for+KDE4?content=94534


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## Faun (Jan 31, 2009)

looks good but I will wait for next key version


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## Hitboxx (Jan 31, 2009)

Except for a few glitches attributed to the continual development, it kicks capitol arse! Period. Miles ahead of every desktop in every OS in today's world. 4.2 is the real 4.


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## Liverpool_fan (Jan 31, 2009)

This makes me very excited for next OpenSUSE KDE4. 

BTW Would Kubuntu 9.04 come with KDE 4.2? I would hope so.


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## QwertyManiac (Jan 31, 2009)

Yes, the next Kubuntu (Jaunty) will come with 4.2.0 

Official announcement is at their website. For now its in the *kubuntu-experimental* PPA to try.


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## Rahim (Jan 31, 2009)

Is it really THAT good or we, linux users, are being too biased here?


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## shady_inc (Jan 31, 2009)

rahimveron said:


> Is it really THAT good or we, linux users, are being too biased here?


Best thing would to try it out and see for yourself whether you like it or no.If you want a platform as stable as KDE 3.5.9, with all the awesome KDE apps at their stable best [Amarok, K3b, Konqueror etc.], this version *may* not be for you.I say this because I installed Amarok 2 on my Arch box and it crashes right after the splash screen.Posting on Amarok forums, I was told to install debug packages to generate a backtrace.The debug packages are way too huge for me to download.So, I can effectively bid farewell to this version of amarok.Am using Exaile instead.


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## Rahim (Jan 31, 2009)

I am downloading it


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## Liverpool_fan (Jan 31, 2009)

^ Don't forget to post your experience. 
 I can just yet download it due to bandwidth woes.


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## Rahim (Jan 31, 2009)

^After 17th, right? Poor Anurag  Rag koro naa!!
The default interface is mind blowing. I am definitely booked this sunday over KDE 4.2


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## Dark Star (Jan 31, 2009)

Downloaded Pardus 2008.2 Live and Install discs


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## vignesh (Feb 1, 2009)

I think its really good. KDE 4 has come a long way from 4.0 to 4.2.


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## abhinandh (Feb 1, 2009)

this is not "the answer" for me. kde 4.1 was better although with less features. plasma crashes for no worthy reasons, even when knotify shows a notification!!!


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## QwertyManiac (Feb 2, 2009)

abhinandh said:


> this is not "the answer" for me. kde 4.1 was better although with less features. plasma crashes for no worthy reasons, even when knotify shows a notification!!!


Try clearing *~/.kde/* and/or *~/.kde4/*

Not good solutions, but cheap and easy.


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## MetalheadGautham (Feb 2, 2009)

^^Yeah. Delete any folder associated with KDE in your home folder after enabling hidden files view.

I too had the same issue. You need to then recustomize KDE4.2. But I doubt it would take a lot of time.


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## Rahim (Feb 2, 2009)

Upgraded to KDE 4.2 in OpenSUSE 11.1 but my system tray's icons like kinternet, klipper, volume, etc are invisible, only rectangular blocks 
Sorry dont know how to post thumbnails

Image Below
*i15.photobucket.com/albums/a388/rahimveron/taskbar1.png


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## Dark Star (Feb 2, 2009)

^^Try changing the theme ... and check if the system tray works.. Also if that doesn't work unlock widgets and remove system tray and re -enable it by right clicking and adding widgets..

you were using wrong site .. Try Imgx.rog or imageshack.us to post thumbnails.. They will provide codes to use thumbnails in forums..


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## Rahim (Feb 2, 2009)

^Did all that but no luck. Is it opensuse 11.1 related? I even deleted ~/.kde & ~/.kde4 folders. The icons are there and it works, but it looks ugly with those empty boxes 

PS: Dont photobucket provides codes for thumbnails?


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## Faun (Feb 2, 2009)

^^it provides, check *account options* at top right

Click on *Link Options* in *Album Setting* and check appropriately


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## vista__n00b (Feb 2, 2009)

I am using KDE 4.2 on OpenSUSE 11.1.

I have to agree that 4.2 is much better than the joke that KDE team provided to us in form of 4.0 but it still doesn't come in "STABLE" category. If anything, it has graduated from being Alpha quality to Beta. Wouldn't even call it a "Release Candidate" either. Plasma and Konqueror still crash randomly, few plasmoids would just hang when you try to open or close them making you go through the logout and login routine (Such a WINDOWey thing to do), Kickoff performance is sluggish and the MacOS imitations like Grid Desktop and Expose clones are just not polished enough yet.

I hate to say it but I am doing things much quickly and efficiently in a minimalistic environment like XFCE than in KDE 4.2. Just my 2 cents.

P.S. BTW to get everything working properly you just HAVE to delete your home folder. Save the files you need to some folder and do a 'rm -Rf' on your home folder.


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## Rahim (Feb 2, 2009)

^I agree


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## Dark Star (Feb 2, 2009)

Maybe an update isssue.. Never had similar problem with KDE 4.2 Live CD of SUSE


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## MetalheadGautham (Feb 2, 2009)

vista__n00b said:


> I am using KDE 4.2 on OpenSUSE 11.1.
> 
> I have to agree that 4.2 is much better than the joke that KDE team provided to us in form of 4.0 but it still doesn't come in "STABLE" category. If anything, it has graduated from being Alpha quality to Beta. Wouldn't even call it a "Release Candidate" either. Plasma and Konqueror still crash randomly, few plasmoids would just hang when you try to open or close them making you go through the logout and login routine (Such a WINDOWey thing to do), Kickoff performance is sluggish and the MacOS imitations like Grid Desktop and Expose clones are just not polished enough yet.
> 
> ...



The stability actually depends on the distro. SuSE often uses lots of patches, many unverified. Try something with vanilla KDE4.2 like ArchLinux.

As for home folder removing, DONT. Just remove .kde, .kde4 folders. That will do.


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## vista__n00b (Feb 2, 2009)

MetalheadGautham said:


> As for home folder removing, DONT. Just remove .kde, .kde4 folders. That will do.


Actually that doesn't "DO". There are folders like .icons, .Apps and other cache folders that will cause problems. An example of this is there in this thread only where a user cannot see icons in his system tray.


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## shady_inc (Feb 2, 2009)

MetalheadGautham said:


> The stability actually depends on the distro. SuSE often uses lots of patches, many unverified. Try something with vanilla KDE4.2 like ArchLinux.
> 
> As for home folder removing, DONT. Just remove .kde, .kde4 folders. That will do.


Same set of stability issues here.Will wait for 4.3 to be released this summer before trying out KDE again.Back to XFCE for now...


> Try something with vanilla KDE4.2 like ArchLinux.


Well, me is on Arch with KDEmod 4.2[not much changes from stock KDE]....


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## Liverpool_fan (Feb 2, 2009)

MetalheadGautham said:


> The stability actually depends on the distro. SuSE often uses lots of patches, many unverified. Try something with vanilla KDE4.2 like ArchLinux.



I guess that is a good excuse for me to try out Arch next.


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## Rahim (Feb 2, 2009)

I remembered when i tries KDEmod 4 in Arch few months ago and it was "makhkhan"


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## abhinandh (Feb 2, 2009)

rahimveron said:


> Upgraded to KDE 4.2 in OpenSUSE 11.1 but my system tray's icons like kinternet, klipper, volume, etc are invisible, only rectangular blocks
> Sorry dont know how to post thumbnails
> 
> Image Below
> *i15.photobucket.com/albums/a388/rahimveron/taskbar1.png



aha! by chance do you use an intel card???

cos i just rectified the same issue


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## Rahim (Feb 3, 2009)

^Yes i do. Intel 845 Tell me the fix yaar.


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## abhinandh (Feb 3, 2009)

rahimveron said:


> ^Yes i do. Intel 845 Tell me the fix yaar.



comment out the "MigrationHeuristic" "greedy" option from /etc/X11/xorg.conf


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## Dark Star (Feb 3, 2009)

> As my FAI broke my blog i couldn’t wrote any news.
> 
> For the last few weeks, we worked a lot on kde4, first we, now, have kde 4.2.0 final so now we will able to work on design, and stabilize our kde4. For that we started by backporting some  trunk features for solid ( bluez ), simpleapplet menu ( the recent application feature ) and Nepomuk.
> 
> ...


Siince MDV is the main sponsors and developers of k3b its gr8 to know it will be ready before major distro release  *planetmandriva.zarb.org/

Thatss spring is the MDV next ver. 2009.1 Sprinf ed.


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## Rahim (Feb 3, 2009)

abhinandh said:


> comment out the "MigrationHeuristic" "greedy" option from /etc/X11/xorg.conf



Here is my xorg.conf file. Tell me which portion to edit:



> # /.../
> # SaX generated X11 config file
> # Created on: 2009-01-12T20:33:33+0530.
> #
> ...


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## Liverpool_fan (Feb 20, 2009)

a_rahim said:


> ^After 17th, right? Poor Anurag  Rag koro naa!!
> The default interface is mind blowing. I am definitely booked this sunday over KDE 4.2



Ha...Got it finally today with KDEmod. 
I've got to say it WAAAAY better than KDE 4.1 and better in usability than KDE 4.1. No crashes in 4 hours which is huge improvement as I got more crashes than hours in KDE 4.1 
And its the BEST looking desktop I've used so far...
The only problem is that plasma crashes quite frequently with new widgets but that's not much problem that it loads back again...


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## Rahim (Feb 20, 2009)

But it crawls in openSUSE 11.1  with 512 MB RAM


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## Liverpool_fan (Feb 20, 2009)

a_rahim said:


> But it crawls in openSUSE 11.1  with 512 MB RAM


Yeah...KDE 4.1 in OpenSUSE was slow as HELL... 
But Arch is blazing fast I would say...
I have 2GB RAM BTW...


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## shady_inc (Feb 20, 2009)

w00t...Downloading KDE 4.2 again.Will try it with Nvidia 180.29 drivers this time since lots of Arch users who, like me, had issues with 180.22 drivers and KDE 4.2 had it sorted with 180.29.Keeping my fingers crossed....
I *tried* switching to GNOME for a while, but it doesn't match up to the mighty KDE.!  Most GNOME apps have only bare minimum options to configure, much like the environment itself.Though, I kind of liked Nautilus more than Dolphin.Hoping it works fine on KDE....


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