KDE 3.0 Screenshots (A/K/A, Do You Like Themes?)

Rob Kaper has graciously fulfilled the oft-heard
request for screenshots of the upcoming KDE 3.0 release. Take a trip
to KDE.org and have a look
at the screenshots featuring (1) the cool dotNet style (my
personal favorite after
Liquid)
(large SS),
(2) KOnCD, now a part of the KDE base
distribution
(large SS),
(3) a desktop shot with the really cool
iKons icon set
(large SS), and
(4) the Media Peach color theme and Quartz window decorations
(large SS).
This might be a good time to remind everyone: for more information on the
amazing themes and icons available for KDE, check out
KDE-Look.org, the
Themes
section at APPS.KDE.com, and the
newly redesigned KDE section at
Themes.org (while a spiffy design,
this new site is still
<cough>somewhat bare bones</cough>, visit the
"classic" pages for some
actual content). P.S. Themes.org is
running a "favorite desktop" poll on their
frontpage, let your voice be heard!

Dot Categories: 

Comments

by Christian A Str... (not verified)

Stuff like this is candy for guys like me that are far away from their main pc (currently in the military for the year) and that haven't been able to try out kde3 yet..

But... Couldn't we get some more pictures of more of the new features (I know there isn't many) in KDE3 ? dotNet, the iKons and Koncd can be run on kde2 too.. So it's really not that KDE3 specific..

by Jean-Christophe... (not verified)

I'm tried kde3-cvs from the 11/03/2001.
There are some apps like koncd, cervisia, kamera, ... that are included in this version. Also the multimedia part is improved but i didn't saw big changes in the UI part or the html render in konqueror :( Some websites are working great with Mozilla/Galeon but still crap with konqui :(
But I think that the real THING in kde3 is QT-3 which is very very nice.

Jean-Christophe

PS : I don't for others, but kde3 still slow on my machine. PIII 600 with 380Mo ram and Ultra160 disks ....

by Ian Reinhart Geiser (not verified)

The big problem with KDE 3.0 in the users eyes will be that there will be no radical UI changes like there was from 1.0->2.0. The cool stuff is in the murky depths of KDE libs and in the back waters of KDE base. What we need is a way to animate some demos of things like printing, script automation, better JS support, accessing play objects via dcop, new text editing engine, graphical regular expression editor, smart card support, total rewrite of SSL and friends, and tons of other little tweaks.

Maby we should try not to got the slushdot route and post pretty screen shots but spend a day showing off how awesome the new JS engine is? Or how the new dcop interfaces will help automation. Personally I really want to see Waldo's "turn off desktop" feature in action... I know it is hard to do these things without pictures but I have faith in our people here at the dot :)

So I hope I did not offend any the the theme and style guys, but really lets talk about what is beneath the surface of KDE. I am sure 3.1 will look much prettier, but there will be less radical library changes.

-ian reinhart geiser

by Matthias Fenner (not verified)

I feel the same - Let's start tweaking!

by nrp (not verified)

How about a few animated GIFs to help demonstrate the new features in action?

by Brutus (not verified)

http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/demos/

Mandrake has put together a fairly effective way of presenting features through a series of animated gifs. Are there other similar sites that demonstrate a sequence of events to provide a strong end-user feel for a set of features? Please provide links if you find something...

by not me (not verified)

Well, maybe someone needs to write a demo that uses JavaScript and DCOP to script the new text editor with user-editable regular expressions while playing sounds and opening a Konqeror window on a SSL site with smart card authentication and printing the page :-)

by Thomas (not verified)

Heee sorry but KDE isent pretty Stylieeee!

KDE has a lot of good hackers but not Stylers. THat is what i missing on KDE a good default Style. Like Gnome or Aqua. HOW helps me a new SSL or libs for a UI my eyes like to see wonderful, beautiful and Stylieee buttons - icons and not new SSL.

Thomas

sorry for my english

by . (not verified)

Have a look around kde-look.org
There are many good styles there - QNix and dotNet are only two

by KDE User (not verified)

Aqua is hideous. So is gtk's default look. Even the best gtk themes don't look as good as the Hicolor KDE Default. Make your own styles if you can't find any you like, don't just bitch.

by Fretto (not verified)

Talking about the "in depth" stuff. What about kerberosV and acl support ?
Well, and LDAP support for the system addressbook ?

And, finally, what about "Group Policies" (sorry for that windows terms) - but, to restrict the desktop for certain groups (network wide) ?
Like disallowing to view dotted files or change theme for that "corporate identity" stuff.

What about abstracting konqueror a bit from the file system ? While KDE using "Unix Gurus" will hate me for that, but, a secretary does not need to know about /etc, /bin, etc. It would be enough for her to see her home share and the group shares she may access. Would be much less confusing. Take away the konsole from her group and thats it. Not for security, just for "useability".

by Jonathan Brugge (not verified)

You can already change Konqueror to do just that. For instance, you could make a view profile that automagically opens the dir 'my documents' - or whatever you want to call it. On the left side, you can build a sidebar that only shows 'my documents', 'my pictures' and 'my networkfiles'. Every program that you want to be available is added to the group 'secretary'. Place some clear links on his/her desktop, let him/her choose from a set of predefined wallpapers / styles and everyone is happy ;) I even dare to say that it would be easier to do in GNU/Linux / KDE than with some other large OS.

by Aaron J. Seigo (not verified)

the aegypten project is working on an LDAP kioslave for use within KMail and elsewhere.

someone already mentioned that it is possible to make konqueror show only certain folders. in the new Sidebar there is one panel that shows only the home dir. since 98% of the time when using konqi as a file manager i am in my own files (i use the command line otherwise, usually) i have it showing only that panel. that may even be the default, i'm not sure.

by Malcolm (not verified)

I totally agree.
Although the slightly behind the scenes changes going on in KDE 3.0 are excelent and are the driving force behind KDE, I think it would be great to show how KDE 3 makes it so much easier to get things done in a better quiker way.

I think its good how KDE 3 is taking the opposite route to say windows XP which is a classic case of basically all the changes being in the UI area and very little changed behind the scenes.

Personally I would like to see screenshots of task automation, flexability, console replacing dialog boxes and the ability to easily customize everything from icons to scren resolution.

by anonymous (not verified)

Can anyone tell what is the name of the new stripe on menu (widget name) in KDE 3.0? Is it possible to theme it as any other widget?

by delpinux (not verified)

Isn't there any sexy alpha-blending shots ?

by Underground (not verified)

x windows does no suport alpha bledering zo kde does not suport alpha blendering. There is work to suport alpha belndering in xfree and when that is ready kde wil have alpha blendering suport

by Underground (not verified)

x windows does no suport alpha bledering zo kde does not suport alpha blendering. There is work to suport alpha belndering in xfree and when that is ready kde wil have alpha blendering suport

by Daniel Molkentin (not verified)

This is not true. XFree provides Alpha Blending with the XRENDER extension. Because of this we were able to drop Software AlphaBlending via KAlphaPainter, Qt and X do it all for us :))

by not me (not verified)

Nice! Does this mean that pixmaps with alpha channels can be used anywhere in KDE now?

by Underground (not verified)

x windows does no suport alpha bledering zo kde does not suport alpha blendering. There is work to suport alpha belndering in xfree and when that is ready kde wil have alpha blendering suport

by Anonymous Coward (not verified)

KDE 3.0 screenshtos are nice, but the release date for KDE 2.2.2 was set for MONDAY! When can we hope/expect to see it come out ?

by Andy Cheung (not verified)

Slightly off topic but given the above message, can anyone give an update of when KDE 2.2.2 will be released?

by jason byrne (not verified)

FWIW - KDE_2_2_2_RELEASE has been available in CVS for at least a few days...

I've been updating my trees for a couple of days just to be sure... but it seems to be more or less frozen (practically speaking)

by off (not verified)

It was released on Monday. Now, distributors will make packages, and when they do, there will be an official release annoncement, and postings to here, slashdot, linuxtoday, etc.. and the crowds will be merry and all will be well.

by Mark (not verified)

ok so where can we get the tars? i'm in the process of building 2.2.1, and would love to scrap it and just get/build 2.2.2. i checked ftp.kde.org, and there's a 2.2.2 directory, but nothing's there.???

by Tim (not verified)

Along with the web window decoration, that's the one I use most. A very nice clean style. The default KDE2 style is nice too, and the B2 style kicks ass!!!

by Me (not verified)

Most of window decorations are ugly, especially window buttons ( maybe with exception of ModSystem and Laptop ). I see that the default wm decoration is still the same as in KDE 2.1 with the ugliest buttons of all, so I would like to know if this is only my opinion - Is there somebody who likes KDE window decorations ? Why KDE2 decoration was choosen as a default one ?

by not me (not verified)

Nothing has been chosen yet. KDE 3 isn't due until February! There's at least one new window decoration in CVS now (glow, it's animated! Really cool :-), and of course you can use any IceWM theme you want. I'll be surprised if kbox doesn't make it in eventually also (at kde-look.org). There's plenty of time to change the default style, I don't think that the artists are affected by the freeze as much.

by Jon (not verified)

I'd be extremely happy if QNix (my favorite window style / widget style) and iKons (my favorite icon theme) made it into KDE cvs... helps me to get away from the MacOS X-ing that everyone else seems to want these days.

Glow sounds interesting... interesting enough to make me check out the CVS just to see it :) Pity I'm going away for the weekend, really...

by Hey (not verified)

I don't like the default decoration, too. I always use the laptop style - even with liquid.

by Me2 (not verified)

ModSystem and Laptop are my favorite too. But System++, Quartz, Kwix are pretty good too. I think I had to install Quartz and Kwix from kde-look.org though

by aleXXX (not verified)

yes, System++ with BeOS colors and "melting glass" background is absolutely marvelous

Alex

by jj (not verified)

i can't found system++ on kde-3.2. Any hint?

Thank you.

by Oliver Strutynski (not verified)

The Laptop decoration is not the most beautiful one, but it is very clear and useable. One suggestion for the other window decorations: It would be great to have a (global?) option for defining the button order in the title bar. I really prefer to have the close button on the left-hand-side of the window, isolated from the other buttons, but that is possible only with the Laptop decorations.

by Johnny Andersson (not verified)

With the default KDE decorations, you can set the locations of all the buttons in kcontrol.. I have my close button on the left side too (Amiga-style. ;)), and I have turned off the sticky and menu buttons as I feel they have no use at all. I think all decorations should have these settings, wonder why they don't...

(I _loathe_ the menu-button. ;))

by Oliver Strutynski (not verified)

Thanks so much. I never noticed that checkbox before.

by axe (not verified)

most of the major third party window decors have button editing support, at least Qnix, Liquid, and kbox do. Im not sure about Kwix.

by Pyre (not verified)

Would be nice if window frames would dissapear when maximizing

by man (not verified)

any plans for QNix or kbox to have kde 3 support?

by A Sad Person (not verified)

KBox compiles for KDE3 with a single line change, and it mostly works, except that changing the settings crashes KWin... But it runs in general just fine.

by fault (not verified)

Yeah, I'll do a port of kbox to kde3 soon.. fixing a lot of bugs in the process (mainly memory leaks resulting from not destroying generated pixmaps.)

I'll also probably add metacity theme support to it. Not sure if I'll name it kbox or something else. I think some metacity themes look cool, and I'd love to use them in kde3.

by Anton (not verified)

Great, now if only the GTK themes would work again in KDE. And support for GTK2 themes added.

by Fretto (not verified)

KDE can look really nice - but one thing. The taskbar is _always_ ugly. Isn´t there sidebaranything to do about this one ?
Maybe _alternatively_ like the of Aethera in this shot ?
http://www.thekompany.com/projects/aethera/images/aethera-contacts.png

Having this slight "3D effekt" and I do like the round buttons. Or whatever. But no so boring and conserative as it is now.

P.S.: I definately would love to see a middle sized version of the "normal" sized and the the "small" sized taskbar. Latter one is too small, while the "normal" one is a bit too big. For my taste, that is.

by emmanuel (not verified)

check out:
http://www.kde-look.org/content/show.php?content=289&PHPSESSID=ae0d77ae3...

(or directly http://www.kde-look.org/content/files/289-kicker_back.png)

and use it as a background for kicker

it is downright beautiful :O)

by will (not verified)

not bad at all... It may not be sufficiently generic as a standard KDE taskbar, but it should provide som inspiration!

I agree: if they gave a new design to the "start" button and the taskbar, it would be all that is needed as a facelift for KDE 3.0...

by puppydogg (not verified)

Can someone tell me what font is being used for the menu in in snapshot1...

thnx

ppGG;;

by Rob Kaper (not verified)

Probably Verdana, I didn't switch to Tahoma yet when I made the screenshots.

by anonymous (not verified)

kde3 seems really great ...all the underwoods change are welcome.

but does kde3 will run under windows ? (as QT3 does)

by Mark (not verified)

check with cygwin. there's a kde 1.x port which seems to run under windows. i haven't tried it. there maybe a day when you can replace you windows desktop, but it's not quite there yet. under cygwin i think you run a kde on your desktop.