KDE4 packages to test for upcoming soho release

[GrannyGeek]

did you install the opera that was included with the kde4 packages as a  upgrade cause that works with qt4 kde4 although alpha just went beta i heard. I'll try to do new package.

That computer is turned off right now so I can't check. I installed everything in the kde4-test directory, so if Opera was included it was installed.

Getting Opera to work under the KDE test doesn't matter that much to me because I use the partition just for testing and I can use Firefox or SeaMonkey for browsing on that partition. I mention this just as an example of something that didn't work after I added kde4 to a clean VL6 Standard.
--GrannyGeek

[MikeCindi]

Fresh install on a newly built (well, still in the process) machine. Seems to work well except akonadi as mentioned above. I'll get mysql loaded soon. If/when I come up with something I'll report back. Right now I'm just trying to figure where everything's at.

[lagagnon]

Completed Initial Testing
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1) confirm above notes re Opera, Akondi probs. Akondi prob also affects some KDE apps such as KAddressBook, Kopete, etc.
2) KPackager: requires the SMART Package Mgr.
3) could not get new KDE4 menu system to render. I had to revert to KDE3 classic menu. Any one else have this problem?
4) have launched all KDE apps and they seem ok, but have not fully tested each one. Otherwise the KDE4 system looks stable here - other than above.

[rbistolfi]

3) could not get new KDE4 menu system to render. I had to revert to KDE3 classic menu. Any one else have this problem?

Looks like we need hardware acceleration for this one. It wont render if I use the nv driver, however works fine with the proprietary ones.

[vector]

I use nv but only 16 bit 24 bit won't work

Vec

[toothandnail]

Did a clean install (to a new partition), updated from patches, then installed all the KDE packages, plus mysql. Took three restarts before I stopped getting errors on startup, but that seems to have cleared now.

Since I didn't install Opera when I did the initial install, Opera works, as does everything else I've tried.

Comments: the KDM theme is ugly and way too clunky for my taste. The home folder thing doesn't make much sense to me, but that seems to be a 'feature' of the new KDE. I'm also less than impressed with the new menu system.

I have desktop effects enabled, and have added some settings (wobbly windows, etc.), but none of them seem to be working. I'm not getting the slide between desktops, and no wobbly windows. Also not getting animation on opening or closing windows.  All those effects worked under Fedora 11 (which was on the partition before I did the new VL6.0 install).

The whole desktop is slow. As I said, I had Fedora 11 on the same partition only a few hours ago, and it was a good deal faster - things like opening the menu are a good deal faster than they are under VL6.0. Not sure if that is due to Fedora using a more recent Xorg?

Overall, it looks quite good (with the exception of the KDM theme), but I can't say there is any likelyhood that I'd use it in preference to Xfce.

Ah. A small addition. Sound doesn't work at all under KDE for me. I had the same problem under Fedora, so I think its a KDE problem. Sound with this laptop has always been a bit tricky under Vecotr, but it does work under Xfce. Not under KDE.... Stupidly, it also worked under Fedora 10.

paul.

[Infrasound]

I'm not sure whether I should say this in this thread or not...but...
I've always been a Gnome user but I've also been using XFCE.

I had tried SUSE KDE3.5/4, Kubuntu KDE3.5/4, Mint KDE4, PCLOS KDE3.5 (Mandriva is pending). And NONE of them suited my personality and likes. All of them seem to have tools and applications I dislike. I had never liked any KDE distro before I tried VL SOHO. Its got the best apps, best tools that are easy to locate and are great to use. Some of the reasons could be also because of the old(er), easier to use and friendly-er KDE3.5 DE. The other minor reason is that most distros such as Mandriva and SUSE do not have as great support for my local language layout (Thai), so keep it up!

I've never been impressed with the KDE4 Menu. If you're migrating VL SOHO to K4, it would be a lot better to have the old menu as follows...



The other reason is that KDE4 features and control centre are somewhat more Advanced and options are harder to locate and tools are less userfriendly than the ones on KDE3.5.

I've never see the use of the new K4 desktop with those plasmoid widgets and the shaded, bordered area where all the icons are located. It just feels uncomfortable and bloated (uh, just like Vista, perhaps?) at the same time they're very eyesore and looks very ugly. It would also be great to have the old icons arrangements and the old desktop just like the picture above.

So in conclusion, I would suggest you stick with K3.5 or if you're migrating to K4, make sure you do some alterations with the desktop to look and feel as similar to K3.5 and the current VL SOHO version as possible. K4 could ruin the userfriendlyness of VL SOHO.

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Note:
Yes, the picture above is a screenshot of Mandriva One 2009.1 Spring.
No, I'm not saying Mandriva is better but I'm implying that its got some very useful features and desktop alterations.

I've never even used/tried Mandriva KDE before!
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Regards