Linux

KDE 4.0 Shows That Free Doesn’t Mean Unattractive

By EAN ⋅ January 11, 2008 ⋅  Email this Post ⋅  Print this Post ⋅ Post a Comment

Just because something is free doesn’t mean that it can’t at least look as though the designers gave it their all. That’s always been my gripe about KDE. It always looked like something you obviously got for free. I think that’s one of the reasons why I zipped over to Ubuntu’s GNOME desktop environment. There seemed to be more style there in its streamlined, minimalist approach.

But all that changed today with the release of KDE 4.0, the newest desktop environment from the guys on the K Desktop Environment team. We finally have a desktop environment for Linux that not only works efficiently, but looks good doing it. I finally have a reason to try out KDE again after forsaking it for several years.

However, despite the major strides made by the KDE team, it is not the be all and end all of Linux desktop environments. While the new style is a step in the right direction from KDE 3.5, it still lacks the finishing touches that you would expect to find on a commercial operating system (Windows XP aside) or application. There are a lot of major design elements here that have been lifted from the likes of OS X and Vista. And that’s not a bad thing, as every designer needs to start with inspiration from something. Hopefully we will see KDE continue to evolve to a point where they start making user interfaces that trump what the commercial designers are doing.

KDE 4 is not just about flashy new looks, though. There are quite a few improvements all around. Default programs have been completely changed or tweaked here and there to make them more useful, more attractive, or more efficient. There are new frameworks everywhere. A new (thank God) default file manager. And new OS X and Windows support for supposedly easier porting of programs from KDE to the two commercial operating systems.