KDE 3.1 Alpha1 is Here 432
navindra writes: "A brand new alpha of the breath-taking KDE 3.1 development branch has been announced. This release sports everything from wonderful new eye candy to tons of popular new features including new and exciting "easter eggs" (aka bugs) just waiting to be discovered. Remember, this is not a stable release -- those of you concerned with stability should use KDE 3.0.2, whereas those of you who want to help KDE 3.1 be the best KDE ever should use this alpha. Kudos to Dre for writing the announcement and to the tireless Dirk Mueller for coordinating this release. Party!" On a related note, pAlpha writes: "Over the past years a large amount of myths has built up around KDE. Recently Aaron J. Seigo released a page about the KDE myths and facts." Good for convincing the boss.
Maybe but I doubt it (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Maybe but I doubt it (Score:2)
Re:Maybe but I doubt it (Score:4, Informative)
At this point, at least for the 3.x series, it's mostly 'tweaks' for improved useability, more standards compliance, and so on.
I update my copies of the current KDE CVS a few times per week, though I only occasionally compile and install from there (once every few weeks). I just like to watch what's being updated.
Last few times I updated the core KDELIBS CVS, for example, I noticed more updates to the html and ecma/javascript code. KMail has had a lot of individual updates...you get the idea. I can't honestly say I know how SUBSTANTIAL the changes have been, but I can at least spot when a section that I use frequently has had updates. so that if I get curious or run into problems in that area (something that hasn't happened to me in some time) I know to try an update...
I notice a bunch of the less "core" utilities (e.g. K3B, the video transcoding utility) have been moved from the core libraries to a new area ("KDEEXTRAGEAR", if I remember correctly). I need to check out that module too, now...
Re:Maybe but I doubt it (Score:2)
Don't fret. The editors (for the most part) are morons.
"or I posted it wrong, what I MEANT was that KDE 3.0 already kicks major ass, and here we are with 3.1 I just dont see how the best can get better."
It graphically rocks. However, it also sucks balls. All these people that says that X-WIndows is sucky and such.... Well, window managers like this are your problem. KDE uses non-standard messages to the X-server and therefore slows down overall performance. Look at TWM. With basic apps, it's tremendously fast, even on a 233 p2. YOu could add in gtk+ and still have it snappy.
More Eyecandy (Score:2)
Alpha channel, so we can have a alpha channeled kicker and panel
Some cool special effects, like genie effect or even motion blur,
Re:More Eyecandy (Score:2)
Only programmers care about processor cycles.
Most desktop users who just run word and a webbrowser, they dont care about processor cycles, they arent compiling code.
So waste? waste is what programmers who have to save their precious little CPU cycles to compile their little kernel a few minutes faster care about. Not someone whos just surfing the web downloading mp3s and chatting.
Re:More Eyecandy (Score:2)
Some of us like wasting processor cycles that way.
I think this should be optional, btw. Linux is Linux whether it's running on an 8MHz 386 with four megs of RAM or a 3Ghz Pentium 4 with four gigs of RAM.
Re:Maybe but I doubt it (Score:2)
There's your problem. Red Hat does everything they can to *not* support KDE on their distro. Use one which works better.
I ran KDE on RedHat and Mandrake for years. Recently, I moved to Debian, and what is nominally the same release of KDE runs at literally twice the speed.
Re:Maybe but I doubt it (Score:2)
* I don't see it getting crashed. If you can compile KDE 3.1 alpha - please do, and report crashes to bugs.kde.org
* try to run your app with artsdsp: artsdsp xmms
* you can compile kdebinding and switch from KHTML to KMOZILLA on the same window - it's in the "View" menu on Konqueror
* if you want to look like XP - please give more details.
Re:Maybe but I doubt it (Score:2)
They need OSX like eyecandy (Score:2)
Alpha Channel / Transparency
Genie effect or equally impressive effects.
They seriously need to get 4-5 developers working on a project with just THAT specific purpose, of improving the eyecandy in KDE. OR maybe someone like Lindows can fund development of xfree86's render extention.
Re:Maybe but I doubt it (Score:2)
KDE keeps getting better (Score:4, Interesting)
Now I'm no longer using mozilla, since it doesn't start quite as fast as konqueror and the tabs where the only thing better about it (that and the antialiased fonts in konqueror look much better).
There are lots of (small) improvements in the kde code that make the whole environment a real joy to use.
Kde 3.1 is a great thing to look forward for.
Re:KDE keeps getting better (Score:2)
Konq does look better than Mozilla. The version of Konq in KDE 3.0 is slooow, though. Slower than Mozilla. I have an Athlon 600, 256MB of RAM. Amazingly, Mozilla opens new windows faster than Konq, and seems to use less memory. I remember when the opposite was true.
Re:KDE keeps getting better (Score:2, Informative)
I know, but the binutils 2.12 solves part of the linking problem by prelinking.
Just today, the objprelink programmer, Leon Bottou, posted on the kde-dev mailinglist, stating that the objprelink option is no longer necessary. When using the newest glibc, binutils and gcc, you already get large speedups.
You can find more info on objprelink here [sourceforge.net].
Re:KDE keeps getting better or is that bigger? (Score:2)
Mmmm... (Score:2)
(drools)
What Eye Candy? OSX kicks its ass (Score:2)
I'm sorry but KDE has a long long way to go before impressing anyone with its eye candy.
why even bother showing off eye candy when its just drop shadows or anti aliased fonts,
The animated icons was a good start, they should improve that so for example you can take a gaim icon or instant message icon from your desktop and put it on your panel somewhere and when you get a msg it animates, or when its on your desktop and you get a msg it animates.
When you put a Cd in the CD drive, the CD icon should appear and begin to spin, to animate whats happenining. Basically they should let our actions influence the animations, more so than just a random animation when you put your mouse over it. Maybe an animation when you actually click it, or if you modify a folder somehow like lock or unlock it, the animation should occur with the lock being slapped on the folder.
Animations is something that OSX and XP does not do, so why not improve that?
not to be a wet blanket, but... (Score:4, Insightful)
i'm sure there are plenty of KDE fans here and all, but this isn't even beta yet. if Slashdot announced every alpha release of every decent-sized Open Source project... Oh [slashdot.org] wait [slashdot.org], they [slashdot.org] do [slashdot.org].
Re:not to be a wet blanket, but... (Score:2)
Re:not to be a wet blanket, but... (Score:4, Interesting)
You do realise that
There's a lot of these folks here, too. This translates to lots of knowlegeable, quailty testers for the KDE team. Quality testers == a quality product for the rest of us. Knowlegeable testers == help for the KDE people in fixing bugs.
BTW, I think it's cool that the only major browser without tabs after KDE3.1 is released will be IE. The Galeon folks should be proud.
Soko
Re:not to be a wet blanket, but... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:not to be a wet blanket, but... (Score:3, Insightful)
Apologies if I was mistaken.
Soko
Up-to-date KDE 3.02+ for Red hat 7.2/7.3 (Score:2)
rpm http://www.math.unl.edu/linux/redhat/apt 7.2/i386 kde3
This guy has packaged KDE 3.02 for Red Hat 7.3, but more to the point, also a bunch of useful apps from apps.kde.com, including KRFB (the desktop sharing app) and, IIRC, the samba / nfs right-click file sharing Konqueror plugins.
Re:not to be a wet blanket, but... (Score:2)
Also, under Linux most things are developed after common standards unlike Windows, which are propietary non-standards.
Re:not to be a wet blanket, but... (Score:2)
Not to be glib, but I believe you just answered your own question.
Re:not to be a wet blanket, but... (Score:2)
My impression so far - stable as a rock already! I removed my old KDE 3.0 RPMS and getting all my stuff with KDE 3.1 alpha - and it works! didn't see any crashes so far..
Myths About KDE (Score:3, Funny)
Number one of which is: KDE does NOT stand for "Killer Dog Eaters"
Re:Myths About KDE (Score:5, Interesting)
I've also read that they chose K because it was the first letter after L, for Linux. I believe the former more than the latter though.
Re:Myths About KDE (Score:2)
Re:Myths About KDE (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Myths About KDE (Score:2)
Maybe I'm just need mental help.
Re:Myths About KDE (Score:2)
Re:Myths About KDE (Score:3, Interesting)
(The) Kalle Dalheimer Experience
(See http://www.kde.org/people/kalle.html [kde.org])
What KDE stands for (Score:3, Funny)
ghobe' bIlughbe' ji-bIlugh Klingon Desktop Environment [unixcode.org]
naDev tlhInganpu' tu'lu' yaj'a' majQa'
Alpha menus & drop shadows (Score:5, Interesting)
Just wondering if it is possible to have such nifty eyecandy work with my 95% GTK+/Sawfish environment, or if I would have to switch to the KDE environment to see this features.
Re:Alpha menus & drop shadows (Score:2)
They NEED to also enhance their icon animations (Score:2)
First, we should be able to set the max framerate of the animations.
Second developers should be able to create animations so programs illustrate our actions.
You put a CD in your CD rom and its a game CD, you should see maybe a little light or flash on the desktop which turns into a little spinning CD, if the game programmers wrote an animation for their icon, the doom CD could have an animated icon of the devil or whatever.
Or you could set it up so when you run a program the icon animate.
When you burn a CD a spinning burning CD animation could appear, why would this be useful? someone who doesnt know a damn thing about computers could look at that burning spinning Cd icon and know what the computer is doing without opening up any programs.
Animation is what seperates OSX from linux, the genie effect, alpha channeling, that extra level of overkill eyecandy is what people want and need for ease of use.
Re:Alpha menus & drop shadows (Score:4, Informative)
Um. Pardon me, but how else are you supposed to render translucent objects? You always have to calculate the final result somewhere. If you have a card and driver combo that supports it in hardware via XRENDER, it does it there. If you don't, it emulates it in software (you can force it one way or the other via the Control Center). Other than hardware or software, where else is it supposed to be rendered? By amish stained glass sculptors sitting on a three legged stool next to your monitor?
--
Evan "Ya, Mister Godwin, that looks good. I'll have the next menu ready for you in about three hours, sure enough".
Fresco (Score:2)
I think he means like this [fresco.org].
Re:Fresco (Score:2)
I think he means like this [fresco.org].
Okay, very nice. Now, how does that render translucent objects *other* than using either hardware or software?
--
Evan
Re:Fresco (Score:2)
Re:Alpha menus & drop shadows (Score:3, Insightful)
It changes. You can put a movie underneath it and watch the movie through the menu. Well... assuming your video driver supports it. The fact that there are no available video drivers that support this feature is due to the newness of this capability in X.
bullshit fakery being passed off as the real thing - the KDE project in a nutshell.
Hang onto your copy of KDE 3.1. When the driver for your videocard supports the new extension, watch a nice DivX and pop a menu over it. Maybe you'll understand the concept of a new API definition requiring the upgrade of existing drivers.
It's a bit like if Doom III comes out running on OpenGL 2, and your video card only supports OpenGL 1.x, and you run around screaming "Doom III doesn't really work. It's all bullshit fakery - Id Software in a nutshell."
--
Evan
Even, what about improving icon animation (Score:2)
I'm talking about improving the animation in terms of frames per second,, doing that would do alot for eyecandy and ease of use, if its done right.
Xfree can support this, people have the ram to do it, and the cpu power but if they dont, they should be able to decide the frame rate just like the decide the icon sizes.
Re:Even, what about improving icon animation (Score:3, Informative)
they should be able to decide the frame rate [ of the icons]
Who? The creator of the icon can do that right now - the icons are MNG files (the animated form of PNG files), and they have a framerate set inside them. What you want is for the desktop user to be able to override that? I suppose it's possible, but I for one just don't see it as a desirable feature.
As for having several different animations based on status, there has been some talk of that (Mosfet at one point discussed it, and he's got some code for animated widgets written, but not, afaik for animated icons). While a developer might suddenly write it, I'd think that to do it right (maybe a .desktop file with scripted dcop calls?) would entail enough time to a stable product that it's unlikely to appear in the very near future. The framework is there, but there's not much demand from the application authors for such an ability.
The fact that it's getting down to such minor details ("I want to globally set the framerate on the animated icons") shows that it's a mature desktop. (Incidently, if you *really* want to change the framerate, you can always open the icons in an editor, change the framerate and save them... Me? One of the first things I do on a new KDE desktop is turn the animations *off*. They bug me... and there's a nice, easy setting for that in the Control Center)
--
Evan
Re:Even, what about improving icon animation (Score:2)
But I the user cannot set the frame rate.Whos computer will be rendering these frames? Mine. So why shouldnt I decide the max amount? If i can change my icon sizes and my screen resolution it only makes sense.
Theres not going to be demand from application authors because application authors cant demand something thats this new.
Its kinda like how the industry didnt demand peer to peer until after napster was made. You have the technology, now we need some ways for developers to take advantage of it, then the demand will come, not from developers but from the users who will then create developer damand.
Kinda like alpha channel, developers dont care about that its the users who demand that.
Yeah KDE is mature, we arent even debating that, the problem with KDE is, while its mature, its still not at the level of OSX. OSX still has it beat in terms of ease of use, eye candy etc, to beat OSX it needs animated icons, SVG icons, alpha channel, and great usability and functionality, If KDE developers focus on the small details (which is what KDE lacks right now) KDE could be competiting with OSX in about a year.
Re:Even, what about improving icon animation (Score:2)
Done, done and done. All three are part of the 3.x series release... these features are at the "they work" level, and are still getting polish each minor release (SVG support is brand new with this upcoming release).
But I the user cannot set the frame rate.Whos computer will be rendering these frames? Mine. So why shouldnt I decide the max amount?
You *can* - on an icon by icon level. Can you even set the global animation speed of icons in OSX or XP? I'm sorry, but I really don't see why you would want to. But it's a really really minor thing - I've checked, and there *is* a value that controls minimum interval of animation to prevent an icon with a interval value of zero from killing performance. It's set to a very low (non zero) value. If you really wanted to, you could set up a slider in the Control Center to set that value... but...
IMO, that starts cluttering the Control Center with minutae that isn't necessary in the default KDE installation. Now, if you want to write a panel for the Control Center that edits that, you can easily release a "TweakUI" or "PowerTools" style package that adds stuff like that to the Control Center - one that I use adds a Matrox specific panel that lets me set all sorts of Matrox G4x0 specific settings. A Matrox specific panel would hardly be of use to the users in general... but I like it. I'd personally class your request as something like that. Easily done, but useless clutter except for those few who really want to control every variable on their system. In which case, an addon panel of PowerUser UI settings that goes into the Control Center makes much more sense.
--
Evan "Need I add that these are all just my opinions?"
KDE Usability (Score:5, Insightful)
This is a wonderful thing. From reading the list, I know that they've painstakingly thought through the work they've done, modeled and remodeled, discussed and argued all the little details to get things as good as they could. Progress has been slow for that reason, but it is substantial, and over time I think it'll bring KDE's usability to something we can all really be proud of.
Features are nice, but I think improving the usability of KDE will help everyone in the long run.
Re:KDE Usability (Score:3, Interesting)
i believe jono started the project and others such as chris howells were involved early on.
the time and effort of everyone who took the initiative has resulted in more and more of the KDE developers and users (along with some new devels and usability people) getting on the list and getting involved.
it's fun to be part of something positive and intense as it unfolds
AJS
Re:KDE Usability (Score:2)
Now if all developers really start to pay attention beforehand, things will really start to improve
Re:KDE Usability (Score:2)
if you looked at my other posts also mention alpha channeling, genie effects, and motion blur, i mention how lindows and others should fund enhancements to xfree, i mentioned how after xfree is improved kde should focus on improving kdes usability not just by adding eye candy but by making it useful.
** Sigh *** (Score:2)
Sweet! (Score:2)
PS: keramik kicks a$$
Derek
Nothing original (Score:2, Interesting)
KDE 1 - 2 were attempts to copy windows UI with some small differences.
It now appears that KDE 3.1 is going for the Appple OS X Aqua look. Look at the screen shots. The task bar looks like the OS X dock and they even called it Qwertz.
I love Linux on the desktop, and I love KDE, but unless it offers something original, something that Windows and Mac OS don't, then what's the point?
Re:Nothing original (Score:2)
But, you can always change it. I do find it interesting that with the newest development of any major desktop environment, window manager, or application, one of the first things that always gets ported is an OSX/XP looking theme.
Someday, E17 will come out - and someone will do an OSX for E and Luna for E theme too. Check out the stats on theme sites, those themes are popular, so its natural that the developers would cater to the users.
I don't like them either, but at least we have a choice!
Re:Nothing original (Score:4, Insightful)
What's the point? Freedom, for starters. You get a first-rate GUI without sacrificing Freedom. Isn't that worth celebrating, even if the GUI is not totally "original"?
Besides, why is it necessarily desireable for a GUI to be completely original? It's been said often before, but I guess it bears repeating. Most modern GUI systems look very similar. They all use "windows", "menus", "icons", "buttons", and "desktops". Does this mean that no one can think of anything new, and it's all about "A copied B copied C copied D! Shame on A, B and C!" ? Perhaps. But it's also possible that the Desktop metaphor just makes sense and it works well. Would you rather KDE make a completely new computing paradigm, even if it meant it was harder to use? Just for the sake of being "different"?
Besides, KDE offers plenty that Win/Mac don't, besides Freedom. Themability, for one. You claim to "love" KDE, and yet it seems you don't understand that the way your desktop looks is largely up to you in KDE. You can make it look very similar to WinXP, or very similar to OSX, or not really like either. The person who took those screenshots chose to have a panel that looks like the OSX dock. Others have an XP-like panel. Mine looks like neither. KDE gives you the freedom to build a desktop that suits your needs and style. How is that copying either OSX or XP?
I guess I shouldn't even bother...there will always be naysayers. I remember when they were saying "KDE will never be as good as Windows or Mac!". Now it's "Ok, KDE is just as good as Windows/Mac...but it's not BETTER, so what's the point?!"
Indeed, what's the point?
Re:Nothing original (Score:2)
The moment that KDE will be radically different from Mac OS & Windows - thats the moment you'll start loosing people who wants to use Linux and came from Windows world. It's pretty hard to teach a newbie an entirely new window manager and/or desktop enviroment.
Try taking a kid who used only windows and give him Window Maker. See what he tells you.
Re:Nothing original (Score:2)
However - we're talking different things here - a person who gets a Linux distribution from his friends and installs Linux + KDE to learn/experiment VS. your example - to buy a whole new machine...
How to install from source? (Score:2)
Re:How to install from source? (Score:2)
a step-by-step isn't likely to happen too, since the parameters for compiling might change from one distro to another.
basically:
download sources
expand the tar.gz files
locate a file called README or INSTALL
follow the instructions on them
this probably involve solving dependencies (updating other stuff that KDE needs to run such as openGL, QT, etc.), setting up environment variables, telling the configure script where it's suposed to install the binaries, etc.
My favorite new things: (Score:5, Informative)
KRfb:
NEW IN KDE: VNC-compatible server to share KDE desktops
Remote Desktop Connection (KRdc):
NEW IN KDE: VNC-compatible client
Now you don't have to have a seperate instance of KDE running with the vncserver - you can share your CURRENT desktop just like you can with Windows and vnc. This is mucho cool - I will use it often!
Derek
Re:My favorite new things: (Score:4, Informative)
Re:My favorite new things: (Score:2)
Re:My favorite new things: (Score:2)
Derek
Copying Microsoft again (Score:2)
Here's something I've seen people BEGGING for in Konqueror and Mozilla - file upload progress bars in the browser. How much do we want to bet that MS will put that in IE7, THEN konqueror or mozilla will implement it poorly 6 months later?
Re:Copying Microsoft again (Score:3, Informative)
The question is: dont you want a feature anymore just because MS implemented it first?
One of the reasons why MS gets the cool stuff first is because KDE still needs to catch up. Many people claim that Linux/KDE is already competitive, but that isnt true. There are many things that Windows has and Linux/KDE doesnt, so be prepared to see even more copied features before KDE gets the big features that Window lacks.
Re:Copying Microsoft again (Score:2)
Re:Copying Microsoft again (Score:2)
Come on, they implement things as they see fit, when they like it and of course, everyone can contribute.
You've see some people begging for file upload progress bars in the browser? So? I've seen hundreds if not thouthands of people begging for different stuff. The thing is doing them, and doing only the ones than make sense.
Re:Copying Microsoft again (Score:2)
Re:Copying Microsoft again (Score:4, Insightful)
What about tabbed browsing?
What about multiple desktops?
What about opening new browser windows with the MMB?
What about themes!
What about scrollbar-jumping?
What about the Alt-modifier key for faster window-manipulation?
MSFT copied often enough and is now clearly lagging behind KDE in the GUI area because they still have a lot to copy to catch up.
Debian (Score:2)
New Look (Score:2, Interesting)
Mirror of screenshots site (Score:3, Informative)
[wustl.edu]
http://wuarchive.wustl.edu/users/tom/kde31alpha
Enjoy!
Evolution of Software (Score:3, Informative)
Much of the book has to do with the evolution of products suchs as web sites and software. Evolution happens in software just like in life forms. Much of the book pushes the idea of making as many "mutations" in a short time with as little money as possible. Let the bad ones die, keep the good ones. If another product has a feature that works well, why not use as much of the basic concept as possible. Image what the word processor world be like to day if none of the publishers used features other software had already implemented. Cross polination in evolutionary terms. This is along the lines of the tabbed browsing in Konquer, and the "Qwertz" toolbar thing.
The rant about the stupid KDE clipboard function? I admit, I don't use the feature either. Is it bad it was put in? No. As many "test" features as possible should be put into the public view to see which are good and which are bad. The good features will stay, the bad will be phased out. These "mutations" of the core are what helps create innovative features. Who knows, someday a desktop envirnment might be considered horrible if it doesn't have whatever the KDE clipboard thing does. (I don't even KNOW what it is supposed to do, which may be more the problem.)
These are not bad, and in my mind should be encouraged of both the Gnome team and the KDE team. As many people here know, innovation happens much faster when there are competing technologies, and not just a big monopoly in any given market.
-Pete
(Book link is an affiliate link...I read the book and liked it. I think you will too.)
Re:Evolution of Software (Score:2)
-Pete
question about KDE, from a Gnome user (Score:2)
One thing that keeps from from giving KDE much attention is a small pet peeve of mine. The task list, I absolutely hate task lists, it's absolutely the the epitome of bad interface design. You have a horizontal list of application names, which are variable sizes, and the more you have the smaller they can be... ugg, disgusting.
So, my question is, does KDE have any type of drop down task switcher, a la MacOS Thanks
Re:question about KDE, from a Gnome user (Score:2)
Re:question about KDE, from a Gnome user (Score:2)
Thanks though, I'll give that a try next time I check out KDE.
KAudioCreator (Score:4, Informative)
KAudioCreator is an audio file creation solution for kde. It allows you to use whatever encoder you wish to encode your audio files while providing a comfortable gui. KAudioCreator also provides a job control system so you can see what files have succeeded, failed and stop or cancel jobs as the application progresses.
Screenshots! [rit.edu]
and for those kde 2 users I have back ported it to kde2 and put it on my webpage. -Benjamin Meyer
The "Keramik" look works with 3.0, as well as 3.1 (Score:2)
http://kde-look.org/content/show.php?content=21
or a tarball here:
http://kde-look.org/content/show.php?content=21
KDE project I never want to see (Score:2, Funny)
The PaperKlip.
This is a software agent that determines what kind of task you're trying to do, pops up, and provides "helpful" advice. Like the MS Office Paperclip agent, the advice isn't that great, and it's a HUGE burden on resources. Unlike the MS Office Paperclip agent, it provides "helpful" advice for the ENTIRE KDE project.
Mandrake users will love it; Debian users will want to destroy the author on sight. The author will show up to LUG meetings with a fake beard and sunglasses.
awesome backgrounds (Score:2)
SVG icons (Score:2)
Re:SVG icons (Score:2)
Re:I would just...... (Score:2)
Of course the screen shot is only of some new drop shadow support for menus. It's kinda funny that so many geeks are trying desperately to view a darkened border of a couple pixels around a menu.
Re:clip board popup (Score:2, Informative)
Re:clip board popup (Score:2)
Re:Installation still a chore? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Installation still a chore? (Score:2)
Re:This kind of reminds me of something..... (Score:4, Insightful)
Also, I disagree with "every body knows that XP was just a pretty GUI". Compared to Windows2000, perhaps it was; but most consumers weren't using Win2k, but Win9x. And WinXP is insistently aimed at home users too, touting new, unheard-of features like STABILITY (whoaaaaaa) and stuff like that. WinXP mixes all that stuff.
Finally, WinXP's prettyness can be argued with; i think it looks childish and dumb, but that's just me..
Re:Desktop sharing? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:The best of the best! (Score:2)
Re:VNC with compression? (Score:2)
Re:VNC with compression? (Score:2)
Re:question about KDE, from a Gnome user (Score:2)
Yes, There is an icon box - type Kicker extention very simmilar to the one in E, I was using it for a while. It shows only the icons of the open windows, and can be set to be transparant. I forget th enam eif it.. but just go through the kicker rxtentions and it is there somewhere. And you can simply remove the task list, it is just a Kicker applet.
Re:The Plan (Score:2)
Until you actually suggest a new paradigm yourself you are absolutely, most certainly, beyond a doubt, trolling.
Those in glass houses yada yada...
Re:The Plan (Score:2)
DON'T RAISE WINDOWS UNLESS THE USER CLICKS ON THE BORDER!!!!
By this I mean:
1. When the user clicks in a window, give it the focus, but DONT RAISE IT.
2. (less obvious but NO modern window managers do this) When the user raises a "child" window, DO NOT RAISE THE PARENT!!!! This is the real killer that makes it impossible to have overlapping windows of any substantial size.
3. Provide a way to move windows around without raising them. For instance, why not the way X window managers worked for a decade before people starting thinking copying MicroSoft was kool: if the user drags the border, move the window and DO NOT RAISE IT, if they click they can raise it. Modern window managers seem to be unable to do this correctly, the KDE I am using cannot do this unless you turn off all ability to raise the windows.
I really really wish some of these people would do this. I do not believe it will "confuse" the amateur user, and it would allow some user interface designs that cannot be done with Windows. Mostly it would allow a single object to be controlled by 2 or more large "views" that overlap on the screen in different windows.
On another point, please test everything under point-to-type. If a program grabs the focus it should warp the mouse to point at it (after first making absolutely positively sure you really really really want to grab the focus).
Plan acccomplished! (Score:2)
All hints apply to KDE-3.0.2, KDE-3.1a1 is still a little too flaky (usable, but annoying at times).
To get number 1:
Kcontrol->LooknFeel->Window Settings
Set "Inactive inner Window": Left mouse button to "Activate and pass click". (Default is "Activate, Raise and pass click".)
OK I have no idea about number 2
To get number 3:
Alt+Leftclick on the window moves it in kwin without raising it.
Re:The Plan (Score:2)
This exact feature was the reason why I switched from Windows to KDE1 back in 1998.
Now you have demonstrated that you have never used KDE, what was your point again?
Re:Drop Shadows (Score:2)
What really is happening is the window is somewhat larger than it looks, it includes a bottom and right edge that have been painted with an image that looks just like what is behind it plus a shadow.