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golden45
Posts: 73
Joined: Mon Sep 25, 2006 11:24 am

general

#1 Post by golden45 »

Kubuntu kde 4.5.1.2 is now out.I have installed it to hd .It looks good but you have to learn how to use it.Its really different--anybody installing kubuntu from now on has to use it as they are now promoting the desktop.I find it has lots of new features but a warning to those who try this kubuntu vivid release .Looks good but hard to use.

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JimC
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Re: general

#2 Post by JimC »

golden45 wrote:...anybody installing kubuntu from now on has to use it as they are now promoting the desktop.
Kubuntu "Vivid Vervet" (15.04) using a KDE Plasma 5.12 desktop is an Alpha 1 release at this point (the very first alpha available from Kubuntu using that desktop). You can also install a KDE Plasma 5.x desktop in production Kubuntu releases if you want to (as some of the reviewers of Kubuntu have already done and have been impressed with the latest KDE 5.x Plasma Desktops). But, KDE 4.x is not going away anytime soon either.

Anyway, sure, a brand new Alpha release of Kubuntu using a brand new KDE 5.12 Desktop is going to have a few unresolved issues. The final release of Kubuntu 15.04 won't be until mid April of next year (and I'm sure we'll see a lot of changes to the KDE Plasma 5.x desktop before then, too). ;-)

Of course, you could continue to use older versions of Kubuntu if you still decide you don't like the new Kubuntu 15.04 release due to be final in April 2015 (for example, just stick with 14.04 LTS if you don't like changes, as it will continue to receive security updates until April 2019).

But, most reports I've seen so far about KDE Plasma 5.x have been very positive (unlike what we saw moving from KDE 3.x to 4.x), despite some remaining bugs.

So, I'm looking forward to using KDE Plasma 5.x based on reviews I've seen of it so far, with plenty of reviewers commenting about much better performance and more.

Frankly, thanks to so many postive reviews of KDE Plasma 5.x I've seen so far, I'm even tempted to upgrade my wife's laptop (currently running Kubuntu 14.10) to the latest Kubuntu 15.04 Alpha 1 release, since I could upgrade it with one simple command from a terminal (by just typing kubuntu-devel-release-upgrade according to one of the release pages about it at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/VividVervet/Alpha1/Kubuntu ).

But, even though my wife doesn't use much except for LibreOffice, Internet browsers and Skype; just to be safer, I'll probably wait until the next Kubuntu release goes into beta (versus alpha) status, first.

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asqwerth
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Re: general

#3 Post by asqwerth »

I've tried Kubuntu + Plasma 5 on live USB, courtesy of the iso images at KDE's neon project pages.

It does run on my old computer, although the graphics effects are very slightly laggy due to the weak graphics card.

Plasma 5's layout and looks are ok but maybe everything's just a tad too flat for me. Even many of the icons are just simple thin-line renderings.

One thing good about it is that the kickoff menu/launcher feels much more under the user's mouse control. Don't know about other people, but I find the KDE4 launcher too "slippery". You just move the cursor a little off course, it aims at another entry, and the menu is sliding along to the next tab or level of applications. I don't experience that issue with the Plasma 5 kickoff at all.

It's not something I really need or want at the moment to be honest. I'm happy enough that KDE4 still works on the old machine in Kanotix (tracking Jessie), and I'm also happy with the lighter-weight DE/WMs that are used in my other distros.

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JimC
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Re: general

#4 Post by JimC »

asqwerth wrote:One thing good about it is that the kickoff menu/launcher feels much more under the user's mouse control. Don't know about other people, but I find the KDE4 launcher too "slippery". You just move the cursor a little off course, it aims at another entry, and the menu is sliding along to the next tab or level of applications. I don't experience that issue with the Plasma 5 kickoff at all..
I prefer the Lancelot menu system (available in the repos with most distros if it's not already an available "Plasma Widget).

I also used Lancelot with my Mepis 11 installs.

More about it here:

http://lancelot.fomentgroup.org/main

But, I don't know if it will be available for KDE 5.x or not.

I use OpenSUSE 13.1 most of the time with a KDE desktop, and I use the "Lancelot" menu system with it.

I also have Lancelot installed on my wife's new laptop (running Kubuntu 14.10), and I had it installed in her Mepis 11 setup on her last laptop, too.

Here's my OpenSUSE 13.1 desktop as setup right this minute as my primary Operating System, using icons for some programs, a folder view of home, and a weather widget). See the following screen captures with Lancelot (the menu system I use more often), although I also have an icon for the KDE Classic Menu available on the panel (as I don't like the Kickoff Style menu).

Click on any image to see a larger version of it:

Image

Lancelot is not installed in OpenSUSE by default. But, I always install it myself with KDE desktops (when installing Kubuntu, OpenSUSE, Debian, etc., I like to install Lancelot with them for the menu system). It's in the repositories for many distros if you don't see it as an available Plasma Widget (I just used YAST to get it from the OpenSUSE repositories for the 13.1 install).

Next is the Lancelot Menu I see if I click on the second Icon in the panel (the left icon is for the simple KDE Classic Style Menu). It's nice in that it defaults to showing applications with Favorites you can edit (and you can also "mouse over" other choices like Computer, etc.)

So, if you keep apps you use more often as Favorites, you have very fast and easy access to them via Lancelot's default menu that you see, with no "drilling down" into categories needed. Note that it's fully resizable, too (just grab the top right corner and resize it as desired).

Again, click on one of the embedded images to see a larger version of it.

Image

If you "drill down" into the menus, you'll see both the program name and the description whenever you "mouse over" an entry. For example, note where the description is shown under DarkTable because I have my mouse pointed at it. Again, just click on one of the embedded images to see a larger version.

Image

Here's what I see if I "mouse over" the Computer choice on the left. I see the same "Places" I have setup in Dolphin (the file manager I use), as well as the "Devices" I have setup (basically, an icon for each partition on my internal drives). If I "mouse over" one of them, I can see the descriptions, as in the Mount Point (NTFS Shared) for the partition on the top right (and I can click on it to open it in Dolphin).

Again, click on an embedded image in this post to see a larger version of it.

Image

Also note the other Icons on the Left for Documents, etc.

It's nice in that the Documents icon gives you recently updated programs, with recently accessed files on the right (including programs, docs, photos, etc.) that you can click on.

The Search Feature is great, too (where you can click on pages of options in the configuration for it for what it searches through including programs, descriptions, settings, files of various types, bookmarks and much more than can be returned in search results).

Then, as soon as you type the first letter in the search bar, it starts returning results.

You can even let it search through wikipedia pages, youtube videos and much more if you want to enable those options. It's really nice for finding programs, settings, bookmarks, etc.

I've become very fond of using Lancelot for my menu system. So, hopefully, it will be available for KDE Plasma 5.x, too (and I have not yet tried the newer desktop, even though most reviews of it seem to be very positive).

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richb
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Re: general

#5 Post by richb »

You may also want to check out the QML Launcher. It is similar to Lancelot. You can find it in the widgets panel, download widgets
Last edited by richb on Sat Dec 20, 2014 5:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Corrected launcher name
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Stevo
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Re: general

#6 Post by Stevo »

richb wrote:You may also want to check out the QT Launcher. It is similar to Lancelot. You can find it in the widgets panel, download widgets
Did you mean the QML Launcher :confused:

Image

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richb
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Re: general

#7 Post by richb »

Sorry yes, QML Launcher.
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golden45
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Re: general

#8 Post by golden45 »

home run --right click on desktop -- configure desktop is also available and am using it with the siduction install I have done last night--I think this can be used instead of search and launch.john

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Gordon Cooper
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Re: general

#9 Post by Gordon Cooper »

I thought that this was a Mepis/Mx forum. Why are we discussing Kubuntu?
Backup: Dell9010, MX-19_B2, Win7, 120 SSD, WD 232GIB HD, 4GB RAM
Primary :Homebrew64 bit Intel duo core 2 GB RAM, 120 GB Kingston SSD, Seagate1TB.
MX-18.2 64bit. Also MX17, Kubuntu14.04 & Puppy 6.3.

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richb
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Re: general

#10 Post by richb »

This is a chat section. We allow a little more latitude in this forum. If detailed help is required we do suggest that a user find it in an appropriate forum dedicated to that distro.

From our Forum Rules:
You can talk about other distros here (talk or discuss, not bash for any reason), but no MEPIS bashing.
Click on the link in my sig for Forum Rules.
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