KDE 4.2 Released

2009
27
Jan

It has been a full year since the beginning of the KDE 4 series and today the KDE community proudly announces the release of KDE 4.2, "The Answer". This
third feature release brings a stunning amount of new features and great stability. The KDE community is confident that KDE 4.2 is a compelling choice for the majority of end users, after previous releases targeting enthusiasts.

Read the official announcement and have a close look at what is new in the Visual Guide to KDE 4.2. The release information page gets you to the source and packages.

KDE 4.2 brings better task management and new features in the Plasma workspace and KWin, and more polish to many applications. Dolphin allows for a more streamlined workflow. The improved IMAP support and new look further enhance the KMail user experience. The improvements to the KDE development platform, combined with the LGPL Qt libraries, make KDE the most appealing free development platform.

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Comments

Tue, 2009/01/27 - 6:45pm — canesalato

Score: 17

Congratulations!

This is a great day for free software :)

Tue, 2009/01/27 - 6:48pm — wintersommer

Score: 7

thanks!

for free software !! power to the users !

Tue, 2009/01/27 - 6:55pm — Shade

Score: 0

Good job!

Good job! I may gripe from time to time about the odd KDE related thing (Cough Toolbox, Cough Aya as default.) but this is really a fabulous release. The KDE modules have for the most part closed the gap with 3.5, the desktop / Plasma is in great shape, and the 3rd party apps have mostly arrived (I'm still lusting for a KDE 4 K3B and Kaffeine). It's nice to know that from here on it's pretty much 'all upside'...

Tue, 2009/01/27 - 7:05pm — majewsky

Score: 11

Aya as default?

If you do not like Aya as default desktop theme, blame your distributor. Upstream KDE ships Oxygen as default.

Tue, 2009/01/27 - 9:45pm — Shade

Score: 1

Actually

Actually I'd prefer Aya AS the default. But no flame fest on the topic is required... Hey, it's KDE and easy enough to change. I'm just happy to see 'a really good' 4.2 out and most of the big 3rd party apps ported and ready. My OP should be read as 'I gripe but this is really good' not 'this is really good but I gripe'. :)

Tue, 2009/01/27 - 7:40pm — gd

Score: 3

Aya as default

AFAIK Aya is the only style that obeys the color preferences of the user (while, if I'm right, the user cannot set the colors of the Oxygen style at all). Good decision from openSUSE to make Aya the default. Eye-candy is good as optional but in the default style configurability and consistency should be prefered over it.

Tue, 2009/01/27 - 10:29pm — enderandrew

Score: 1

I agree

I would either like to see Aya get some polish to look as nice as Oxygen, or to see Oxygen respect color preferences.

Tue, 2009/01/27 - 7:06pm — radoeka

Score: 7

Well done!

Much goodies to all people (developer, translators, bug reporters, packagers, etc ,etc) involved in getting this release out the door. It's a good release and it's nice to be able to work fulltime in this release. Congratulations kde!

Tue, 2009/01/27 - 7:07pm — Hans

Score: 6

"The Answer"

But what is the question? Congratulations to the KDE community! This is a release many have waited for, me included. So long KDE3, and thanks for all the fish://. (With that said, I don't think I'll throw away KDE 3.5.x just yet).

Tue, 2009/01/27 - 7:47pm — Autumnautist

Score: 4

Congrats to KDE team!!!

You almost had me fooled in giving you the "question", until I remembered those lovely dolphins :D Kde 4.2 is beautiful!!!!

Wed, 2009/01/28 - 2:48am — odalman

Score: -1

The question is:

> But what is the question? The question is: does printing work? I read before that KDE4 could not even print only odd/even pages. Does that work now?

Wed, 2009/01/28 - 1:45pm — drmrshdw

Score: 2

Yes

Printing works properly now. If you really wanted to know, you could have either tried it yourself, or even just read the visual guide or Wikipedia page.

Thu, 2009/01/29 - 12:27am — vedranf

Score: 0

No, it does not work

He just politely asks a valid question and they bury him down. Then someone lies to him and they promote him. Excuse my language but what a bunch of idiots.

Thanks for telling me about it! by odalman

Score: -3

Thu, 2009/01/29 - 9:28pm — majewsky

Score: 2

Duplex printing

> (Unless I buy a duplex printer first.) Why? Duplex printing is working fine on my 4.2 since some months.

Fri, 2009/01/30 - 12:33am — drmrshdw

Score: 1

My apology.

Oh my gosh! Truly sorry for the misleading information! To clarify, the KDE 4.2 print system has improved, but does not have duplex printing. As the bug report page said, however, if you want to give KDE 4.2 a try, but you need duplex printing, you can install and run "printruler", which can run as a daemon and open anything you print as pdf in any directory (default is /home/you/PDF), and give you more options such as duplex printing. See <a href="http://www.kde-apps.org/content/show.php/printruler?content=83774" title="http://www.kde-apps.org/content/show.php/printruler?content=83774">http://www.kde-apps.org/content/show.php/printruler?content=83774</a> or <a href="http://code.google.com/p/printruler/source/checkout" title="http://code.google.com/p/printruler/source/checkout">http://code.google.com/p/printruler/source/checkout</a> Truly hope this helps!

Tue, 2009/01/27 - 7:12pm — zayed

Score: 5

Congratulations!

What a day! Really I'm happy. Thank you for this great release.

Tue, 2009/01/27 - 7:18pm — tubasoldier

Score: 1

the cashew

I know this has been discussed to no end, but I find it discouraging that I can not remove the cashew from my desktop. I don't use it. It gets in my way. I don't care if it disappears forever but I do want to be able to remove it without much fuss. Other than that KDE 4 has turned out great. Thanks to all the devs for your hard work.

Tue, 2009/01/27 - 7:34pm — vld

Score: 9

It can easily be removed,

It can easily be removed, just use this plasmoid: <a href="http://kde-look.org/content/show.php/I+HATE+the+Cashew?content=91009" title="http://kde-look.org/content/show.php/I+HATE+the+Cashew?content=91009">http://kde-look.org/content/show.php/I+HATE+the+Cashew?content=91009</a>

Tue, 2009/01/27 - 8:29pm — tubasoldier

Score: 3

thanks

thanks

Thu, 2009/01/29 - 5:08pm — Shade

Score: 1

OK

The first post here was harsh-- At this point I think most people have accepted neither the default 'Desktop' or 'Folder View' will make the Toolbox / Cashew 'go away'. For those of us that find it annoying, it generally doesn't rise to the level of inducing a person to switch distros or DEs. At this point what grates and boggles the mind to a certain degree is that a Toolbox / Cashew optional (or free) alternative isn't shipping directly with KDE (With that guarantee of support from KDE and Distro Packagers.) I prefer Aya-- I can switch to Aya. Happy. I prefer no Toolbox / Cashew I can switch distros, go someplace and follow some process, or hope for something on 'New Stuff'. That's kind of the opposite of what many of us KDErs are used to when it comes to things that have a pretty reasonable level of demand. (It wouldn't be a 'one man and his goat' type feature.) There's a compounding of annoyances there, IMHO.

Wed, 2009/01/28 - 10:49pm — KSU257

Score: -1

The "Cashew" is redundant

I have to say that I do not understand the purpose of the "Cashew". Applying logical principals of system design, it is redundant since it provides exactly the same options as right clicking the desktop. Therefore, it should be removed; it is not needed. Perhaps there was an original idea that required its use, but there is none now. If something comes up that can't be implemented by right clicking the desktop, then I adding a new widget that the user can place whereever they want would seem to be a good solution.

Wed, 2009/01/28 - 11:58pm — sebas

Score: -1

Discoverability

For discoverability, we should in that case probably remove the right click menu -- all options are available in other places as well. The toolbox will be easier to find for those not used to right clicking, which might be obvious for power users, but has severe problems for the not-so-power ones. Also, for touchscreen users, those right click menues appear to be a real problem.

So what about us... by vedranf

Score: -3

Yeah, I agree with you. A by DeiF

Score: -3

Thu, 2009/01/29 - 6:52pm — Andre

Score: 0

This would be really

This would be really inconsistent. I'd rather get rid of right-click menus completely. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think we only have these right-click->hover->left-click context menus because we adopted them from windows. And they are mostly redundant anyway. Have you ever given computer courses? I can only suggest it! You will see how utterly stupid some of the PC handling is. I know it feels as usual as walking for us, but just think about it. You usually have no chance to see WHERE and HOW the context of the context menu is changed or what it contains. In Windows, you've got a different menu for a window title bar, the menu bar, the symbol bar, the list header, the window content, input elements, etc. Some elements just don't have a context menu at all. In Windows even the tiny little symbol on the upper left has a different menu than the rest of the title bar! It is just ridiculous! And have you ever seen someone unused to a mouse use such a menu? It's really hard for them to switch from right-click to left-click and inbetween aiming at the 10 pixel high row of the menu is nearly impossible. There are a lot of such things in PC user interfaces, don't even get me started on those draggable toolbars. I don't know how often I had to restructure those on someones MS Word.

Thu, 2009/01/29 - 9:31pm — majewsky

Score: 0

Please, do not ever make

Please, do not ever make software that tries to be overly clever when it comes to making assumptions. I want my KDE to behave coherently on all target platforms.

Fri, 2009/01/30 - 6:54am — KSU257

Score: -1

If everything is available

If everything is available elsewhere, than a good case can be made for it except that people are probably used to right clicking.

Tue, 2009/01/27 - 8:49pm — Alien Healer

Score: 2

complain to your distro.

complain to your distro. OpenSuse have given people the option to have it or not have. So should your distro.

Wed, 2009/01/28 - 8:39pm — Shade

Score: 0

SO

Not meant as a flame-- So you're saying that KDE users should rely on distros to provide a basic environment that has 'enough reasonable choice'? Down that road lay fragmentation, generally horrible distro 'improvements' to KDE, and a ceding of the projects claims of 'sane defaults' and to 'be responsive to the needs of users'. As I've said previously, I prefer Aya. Out of the box I can choose Aya. I'm happy. (If I liked neither Aya or Oxyigen I could pick from one of a half dozen variations on black and grey. :) ) In the case of the Cashew / Toolbox, out of the box I have two choices neither of which address the source of my irritation (and no 1/2 dozen other variations). It's fine to have a default desktop with the toolbox, it's less fine not to include and alternative, and it's even less fine to say switch / beg your distro, go here and follow this process, hope on 'New Stuff', etc... It's one thing if there was low demand, if it was a developer's pet feature, or if it was a one man and their goat type feature, but even without scientific quantification this is clearly not the case. Statements to the contrary are pretty much missing the point... (and I say this as somebody who's relatively in the loop and capable of installing an alternative.)

Thu, 2009/01/29 - 12:19am — Alien Healer

Score: 1

KDE developers delivered a

KDE developers delivered a product, are they to deliver a product that will meet all people's wants and desires, no because that would be impossible. Many people like features that you don't. It is up to the distro's to add their little tweaks to KDE.

Thu, 2009/01/29 - 5:07pm — Shade

Score: 1

That Argument

I *LIKE* KDE 4, but that argument has been had. Pretty much everybody agrees with (relatively) 'clean interfaces', 'clean configs', and 'sane defaults'. That's why I'm very careful about saying Toolbox by default, sure... and I'm careful to exclude Developer's pet features, and 'one man and his goat features'. But to pretend that there is something less than reasonable demand is to delude yourself, and to say beg to or switch your distro, go here and do this, or hope on 'new stuff' is to miss the point... That's the reason why so many trolls, pathologically disgruntled ex-users, and nay-sayers have latched on to this is because 'install meta KDE' will result in something that is visible, annoying, and can't be turned off for many people. The (honestly) helpful people here will say switch / beg distro, go here and do this, or hope on 'New Stuff'. That's missing the point, and is mana to trolls. That's what you call giving them a 'nub of truth' and them getting 'years of mileage' from it. (Especially when everything else on the desktop can be changed, swapped out, or gotten rid of under 'install meta KDE' and the lack of that capacity here breaks that continuity and feels alien.) Then compare the alternative, say with one week of BETA for 4.3 left an announcement (Planet Post) of a fabulous new Desktop Containment shipping with KDE goes out that has a toggelable or non-existent toolbox. You can guarantee there'd be great rejoicing. Nobody would bitch and many would be happy. The trolls would say "took you long enough", but would be left looking like they are when they reference 4.0.0. Please note, this is not JUST to snub the trolls-- but it has that nice side effect. :) There is legitimate and largeish demand. I have a certain amount of hope that this Desktop Containment' will one day get shipped... But ultimately I have recourse and I'm not the one who has to field the enquiries and wear the flames. Albeit, every time I mention KDE I'll mention the toolbox as a caveat and personal annoyance (as is fair).

Fri, 2009/01/30 - 3:36pm — madman

Score: -1

Personally, I've never seen

Personally, I've never seen what's wrong with the cashew: it's small enough to ignor, doesn't get in the way of open windows, doesn't get in the way of desktop icons/plasmoids, is there for if and when you need it and can even be moved. By my reconing, this is just another nit-picky thing that some KDE 3.x fanatics like to throw up as a bad thing. This whole argument is pathetic. It's 15px by 15px of screen space, for crying out loud!

Sat, 2009/01/31 - 1:00am — Shade

Score: -1

Nitpicky maybe-- But I'm one

Nitpicky maybe-- But I'm one of those sickos that's used KDE 4 daily since before it was released. While it doesn't bother you-- you can't relegate the demand for a 'meta install kde' way to remove it down to 'one man and his goat', and since the default containment's won't be modified to accommodate this, the one hope is for another containment to ship. All desktops suck, and I think KDE 4.2 happens to suck less than *ANY* alternative, but KDE shouldn't stand for 'Kool-aid Drinker Enlightenment'. :) One of the things I admire about the KDE community is that at some point it can take a good frank look in the mirror and see when it's missing the point, or gone too far to one extreme or another... It just takes a while sometimes, so I have tremendous hope in this case. edit: I don't think the desire to remove a thing conveniently is being overly rigid. The biggest selling point of KDE has been the ability to 'pick a metaphorical nit'... That little glaring bit of immutability is what can irk the most...

Sat, 2009/01/31 - 5:39pm — madman

Score: 1

It's a good point to make it

It's a good point to make it optional, and I'd agree - if people weren't as pathetic as to say, "Gah, I don't like that, I CAN move it behind a panel or ignore it and see if the rest of the DE is cool, but instead I'm going to throw a fit and use GNOME!" Something as petty as that shouldn't be a cause to switch DEs or distros, but that's in effect what some people have been implying: "I'm not using KDE because, despite the rate of its growth and the underlying technologies such as KIO, Akonadi, Solid or Phonon, I can't get rid of the cashew!" KDE 4.0? yes, I can understand if you didn't like it. It was the bare minimum of what a DE requires and we're used to more then the bare minimum, but for some people it seems like a game of, "Find some other reason to dislike KDE 4 and throw a fit!" That's what annoys me, more then anything.

Fri, 2009/01/30 - 11:35pm — KSU257

Score: -1

PATCH exists?

This would indicate that OpenSuse has the patch. So, why doesn't KDE ship it?

100% agreed! by stoked

Score: -5

... by vedranf

Score: -4

Wed, 2009/01/28 - 6:55am — tubasoldier

Score: 8

wrong place

I know why my comment was voted down. Now that I have had all day to think about it this is not the correct place to voice my negative opinions. This really is just an announcement about a software release. KDE 4.2 is a massive jump in amazing awesomeness compared to KDE 4.1.4. I'm loving it. I understand that there are touch screens that need some sort of configuration in the corner. As a regular user I don't need or want it. KDE *should* be about choice. And it is, completely. After a bit of mucking about the cashew can be removed. I just think it should be easier to do. If I offended anyone for posting my dislikes here then I would like to apologize.

Tue, 2009/01/27 - 7:20pm — alukin

Score: -1

Great release! Congratulations!

That is first really good release. Thanks, KDE team! Although I must say that exactly this release should be named KDE 4.0. Please, don't make marketing and PR mistakes in future.

Thu, 2009/01/29 - 12:01am — sebas

Score: 4

It was the right decision

I think we have discussed this to death already. While I'm glad you like it, please spend the time needed to understand the decision we made more than a year ago. While it might have been painful to the users that got 4.0 without much choice, it was a clear decision for our own community, and given how the last year went for KDE, I can't say anything else than that it was a good decision.

Tue, 2009/01/27 - 8:00pm — NuLL3rr0r

Score: 3

Great!!!

hi, thanks to dev team for another great release.

Tue, 2009/01/27 - 8:01pm — madman

Score: 6

Amazing!

You can expect me to install KDE 4.2, whatever distribution I use - and to show it off to anyone that claims Linux isn't good enough!

Tue, 2009/01/27 - 8:38pm — enderandrew

Score: 10

Visual Guide

Spectacular work on the visual guide. I think many will find it quite helpful. Also, despite the fact that I am not really a fan of widgets (any implementation of), I like the concept of having a quick shortcut to one if I need one. I don't want them on my desktop all the time, but quickly calling up pastebin, or a calendar, or a dictionary might be useful. Tonight I will install the openSUSE packages and give it a try and see if I like KDE 4.x any better this time around.

Tue, 2009/01/27 - 8:53pm — SP

Score: 3

Awesome!

I've been using KDE4.2 for a while now (since beta something) and I feel that 4.2 is finally good enough to replace my trusty old 3.5. I still miss a few details here and there (esp. in konq file browsing), but as a whole 4.2 beats out 3.5 Great work everybody! Btw, is Nepomuk really slow or is it some misconfiguration? I distinctly remember some lecture where someone claimed Nepomuk (actually strigi) was way faster than all other desktop search engines, but on my OpenSuSE 11.1 Beagle behaves very nicely while nepomukdaemon eats a lot of CPU when surfing the web.

Tue, 2009/01/27 - 8:59pm — majewsky

Score: 4

Re: Awesome!

Nepomuk is not a desktop search engine, that is Strigi. If nepomukdaemon is having a high CPU load, but not strigidaemon, that smells to me like a bug in Nepomuk or one of its clients (without knowing much of the subject).

Tue, 2009/01/27 - 10:52pm — SP

Score: 1

Re: Awesome!

Thanks for your reply It's not really clear where the dividing line is between the two. For example, AFAIK I'm supposed to use nepomuksearch:/ for searching (but it doesn't seem to work in this release). Trying strigi:/ redirects me to Google (default search engine) Also, KRunner has a "Nepomuk Desktop Search Runner" plugin but no "Strigi Desktop Search Runner" Anyway, I just tried the old strigiclient app and it is indeed very fast, both when indexing (I had to start it manually) and when searching. It doesn't seem to update its index (in real time) though.

Tue, 2009/01/27 - 11:07pm — ivan

Score: 3

It's a part

Strigi is a part of the Nepomuk now, or to be more precise, KDE now ships with strigi indexer that is a part of Nepomuk. (so, no need for the strigidaemon)

Wed, 2009/01/28 - 3:01am — albert

Score: 2

strigi disabled

by default in kde4.2 strigi is disabled if soprano backend is not sesame2 so as no distribution but opensuse are packaging sesame2, strigi and so nepomuk are useless.

Wed, 2009/01/28 - 2:59am — albert

Score: 1

install sesame2 backend

You are lucky you are using Opensuse so you are using the only distribution which package sesame2 the fast backend for soprano (they other distribution are using an old, slow and unmaintained backend redland).