striker Posted January 16, 2008 Author Share Posted January 16, 2008 I have to agree with him.The first thing I did on my Windows XP desktop was get it looking like Windows 2000.I tried out the desktop effects with Compiz on my Gutsy Gibbon powered Athlon 64X2. I did this just to see how the ATI onboard X1250 would handle it (does it *ever*.) Now I have it switched off again.Why is all this eye candy considered so essential to using a GUI anyway? Is it just because we have all this graphics power being wasted on gamers? I don't know ray, I don't use this eyecandy stuff at all, it just slows down. I have seen it once, decided it was not my cup of tea and immediately got rid of it. My wish would be they would concentrate on GUI consistence and 'complete' drivers instead of half baken 'good enough' stuff. But I'm not a developer, just a user. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alphaomega Posted January 16, 2008 Share Posted January 16, 2008 Why is all this eye candy considered so essential to using a GUI anyway?I've been asking myself that for years now...As far as I'm concerned...it's nothing more than filler...When I minimize a window...I just want it to get out of my way quickly...I do not need it to do a song and dance on it's way out.I just want to get my work done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
striker Posted January 17, 2008 Author Share Posted January 17, 2008 filler ... good one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havnblast Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 I'm glad I made myself use Gnome when I did as I have turned it into my main desktop. Lesser bloat, lesser bugs, much cleaner and I even have the configuring of it down.I still prefer some KDE apps like K3b.KDE4 had to do something with the code and they are. I believe once it is final it will be 100xs better than it is now. Regardless I am sticky with gnome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
striker Posted January 17, 2008 Author Share Posted January 17, 2008 I'm glad I made myself use Gnome when I did as I have turned it into my main desktop. Lesser bloat, lesser bugs, much cleaner and I even have the configuring of it down.I still prefer some KDE apps like K3b.KDE4 had to do something with the code and they are. I believe once it is final it will be 100xs better than it is now. Regardless I am sticky with gnome.Yep, let's give them some time to cinch out the bugs and glitches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 I've been asking myself that for years now...As far as I'm concerned...it's nothing more than filler...When I minimize a window...I just want it to get out of my way quickly...I do not need it to do a song and dance on it's way out.I just want to get my work done.Yeah and I'm not sure I totally understand all this fglrx, xgl-server and AIGLX stuff anyway. Anyone care to explain it in non technogeek terms? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 I'm glad I made myself use Gnome when I did as I have turned it into my main desktop. Lesser bloat, lesser bugs, much cleaner and I even have the configuring of it down.I still prefer some KDE apps like K3b.KDE4 had to do something with the code and they are. I believe once it is final it will be 100xs better than it is now. Regardless I am sticky with gnome.I like Gnome myself, probably because I started with Ubuntu. I really like Rhythmbox, which I found very easy to set up to play MP3s. Also I find Nautilus a pretty good file manager.KDE gives more control and options I guess, but I've always found it to be "Death by Menu." Maybe I haven't experimented enough with it.Both Gnome and KDE are pretty slow on my old hardware so I've switched to Xubuntu or Vector Linux - both Xfce desktops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alphaomega Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 Yeah and I'm not sure I totally understand all this fglrx, xgl-server and AIGLX stuff anyway. Anyone care to explain it in non technogeek terms?Yes...someone please do.I know when I looked into testing my old nvidia card to see if it could do all the fancy graphics stuff...I would get so far...get a little closer to getting it to work...and I would get yet another error message to investigate...untill (if memory serves me right) there was something that the driver needed to support for it to work and the old legacy driver did not support it.It would have been nice to know this up front...before I spent all that time trying to get thedarn spinning cube to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 Yes...someone please do.I know when I looked into testing my old nvidia card to see if it could do all the fancy graphics stuff...I would get so far...get a little closer to getting it to work...and I would get yet another error message to investigate...untill (if memory serves me right) there was something that the driver needed to support for it to work and the old legacy driver did not support it.It would have been nice to know this up front...before I spent all that time trying to get thedarn spinning cube to work.I have had two goes at this wobbly window stuff.My old junker desktop (Dell Dimension P3 866, 512 MB RAM, Nvidia FX5200 Graphics) had no desktop effects when I installed Gutsy. However all I needed to do was install the Nvidia restricted driver and enable them and Bob's your uncle. Mind you the Nvidia driver had a nasty bug that gave me a black screen if I tried to switch users. I was soon back to the generic nv driver and no eye candy.My shiny new desktop (Whitebox Athlon 64 X2 4600+, 2 GB RAM, ATI X1250 IGP) also had no desktop effects by default. When I tried to enable them it informed me that "Compositing was not enabled"). I had installed the ATI fglrx driver because it did give me a better 2D display.So after a search of the Ubuntu howtos I found out I had to install Compiz plus the xgl-server before any effects would work. After I did this they worked really well if you like that sort of eye candy. I'm back at the simple 2D desktop again, but I can impress my Vista-esque friends if needed.Bottom line: New system does it better but ATI X1250 is a PITA to set up. If I really cared about this stuff I'd put in an Nvidia 8600 in the new box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
striker Posted January 17, 2008 Author Share Posted January 17, 2008 yep, nvidia was and is definitely the better choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
striker Posted January 18, 2008 Author Share Posted January 18, 2008 KDE 4's next step, version 4.1 in 2008http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;1390174457 Either way, a more improved KDE4 release will be available in 2008.More polished, more eyecandy ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeber Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 No, it's actually a major alteration of the core libraries and adds a lot of new functionality. Oxygen will focus mostly on the GUI, but there's Solid that provides a better framework for software to work with hardware, Phonon, which provides a base layer for multimedia applications, and Nepomuck, a "social semantics" search API that will eventually allow search from any application. It's a major overhaul of KDE, and only partially implemented in 4.0. Many of the features should be ready for primetime by 4.1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
striker Posted January 19, 2008 Author Share Posted January 19, 2008 Aha, thanks for clearing that up Jeber! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlangdn Posted January 19, 2008 Share Posted January 19, 2008 I like the eye candy at times. Keeps my grandkids occupied for a while. (Some are 5 & under) I don't use it much myself. I managed to get compiz working on Slack 11, and after all the effort I was really disappointed. Now I don't even remember how I did it!Never could get the settings manager to work right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeber Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 There's a pretty decent preview of KDE 4.0 over on Lifehacker (one of my favorite blogs). Kevin Purdy includes some screen shots that I'm not sure does the appearance of the desktop justice, but he does mention one of the subtle yet useful changes in the way the KDE looks. The developers have switched from .png images as icons to scalable vector graphics, meaning you can resize icons and widgets without getting the jagged-edge appearance that occurs when the size of a .png is increased. One of the best things about KDE 4, the newest release of the mainstream Linux desktop manager, is something it doesn't do—force you to adapt to its way of running a computer desktop. Sure, the desktop environment boasts new 3-D effects, a polished theme, and improved functionality. But what KDE 4 does best is give users the ability to almost completely re-design their desktops, putting their programs, icons, and useful widgets wherever they see fit, on as many desktops as they want, to create their ideal workspace. I spent some time exploring the features of the less-than-week-old system, the results of which are after the jump.If you wanted to see how KDE 4 looks right now without committing yourself to a new install, you can burn a live CD from the Kubuntu or openSUSE distributions, both of which plan to implement KDE 4 in their next releases. If, after these screenshots, you're itching to switch for real, I'd recommend upgrading from inside a working KDE system rather than starting fresh, as none of the live CDs are officially supported yet. And there's a good reason why—this is just the first release of a system that's in many ways completely re-written, and a few important pieces are still missing from the whole. The developers have stated that KDE 4 is an intentional shift away from the norm, so those who rely on certain key programs to work might want to hold off until at least 4.1About those widgets—they're the heart of KDE's desktop engine, named Plasma, and they're a lot more powerful than clocks and mini-feed-readers, although they're there if you want them. Everything you could put on the taskbar, and anything open source programmers can dream up, can be embedded anywhere on the desktop.The widgets get covered up once you start opening program windows, but you can bring them to the fore and shade over your windows, Mac-style, with a Ctrl+F12 keystroke. They're scalable vector graphics as well, meaning you can adjust them to any size, or even angle, and they'll still look right. One notable widget is the "File Watcher," which can display text from any file you point it at, making it a great way to track your text-based to-dos.Mess around a bit, and you can come up with a lot of way to reorder your space in convenient ways. Put custom program launchers together across the screen bottom to create a Dock-like launcher. Move your window switcher to the top or the sides, or eliminate it altogether and stick with Alt+Tab. You can do many of these things in GNOME and in other operating systems, but KDE gives you a fairly blank slate from which to draw your own map to productivity.KDE 4's other big change is splitting the tasks of web browsing and file exploring between Konqueor and Dolphin, respectively. Dolphin, the newest kid on the block, brings split-view browsing for easier file transfer, and integrates the multi-format Okular viewing tool (seen in the background below) to view, bookmark and even add notes to files, making it easier to organize and sort them later.Of course, no new Linux environment is complete without super-powerful, endlessly tweak-able Compiz-ish desktop effects, and KDE 4's got 'em in spades. If you want your windows or menus to move a certain way, chances are you can do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 . . . great info Jeber . . . . Thanks !! Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
striker Posted January 21, 2008 Author Share Posted January 21, 2008 thanks Jack ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
striker Posted January 21, 2008 Author Share Posted January 21, 2008 Another one (7 pages + screen shots) at arstechnica:http://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/kde-40-review.ars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeber Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 I talked to Ryan Paul at the KDE event. Interestingly enough, he said he's usually a Gnome user, but still was impressed with the direction KDE was heading (though he'll be sticking with Gnome).He mentioned his review was being published while we were at the meeting, he didn't mention how detailed and balanced the review was. It is definitely a good read. Thanks for the link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeber Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 BTW- for those interested, here's the proposed 2008 roadmap for KDE: * January - KDE 4.0.1 * February - KDE 4.0.2 * March - KDE 4.0.3 * April - KDE 4.0.4 * May - KDE 4.0.5 * June - KDE 4.0.6 * July - KDE 4.1.0 * August - KDE 4.1.1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 BTW- for those interested, here's the proposed 2008 roadmap for KDE: * January - KDE 4.0.1 * February - KDE 4.0.2 * March - KDE 4.0.3 * April - KDE 4.0.4 * May - KDE 4.0.5 * June - KDE 4.0.6 * July - KDE 4.1.0 * August - KDE 4.1.1 Looks like we will be at 4.1.1 soon . . . . . can't wait to try that one ! . . . Thanks Jeber Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
striker Posted January 31, 2008 Author Share Posted January 31, 2008 KDE 4.1 feature plan and release schedule published, KDE 4.0.1 taggedhttp://liquidat.wordpress.com/2008/01/31/k...kde-401-tagged/KDE 4.1 - release team aims at July 2008http://liquidat.wordpress.com/2008/01/18/k...s-at-july-2008/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
striker Posted February 22, 2008 Author Share Posted February 22, 2008 KDE 4.1: Visual Changelog (rev 777000)http://polishlinux.org/kde/kde-41-visual-c...log-rev-777000/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruno Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 I have to say . . the promise of 4.1 is starting to look better . . . . . but there clearly is a lot to do to get us where we will really enjoy it. Bruno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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