So I’ve been seeing the pictures of KDE4, but haven’t really had a chance to play with it until now. But write-ups over at places like Ars have led me to believe it’s usable, if not stable.
Sitting at a laptop running KDE4 on Ubuntu 7.10 I can assure you this is not the case.
While the technology behind this desktop feels like it might, someday, be impressive it’s currently a steaming pile of not-ready-yet. If this was my introductory experience to KDE i’d run, not walk, screaming and not look back.
Configuration options for most of the stuff that needs to be configured are missing, display glitches abound, and my clock currently contains a flashing garbage block where the last digit should be.
Also, every other character makes the quad desktop switcher in the corner flash on and off like a mad strobe light.
I don’t even have a dock panel on the dock. There’s no option for the dock in the config screen either. Instead, I had to get a widget of my dock that sits on the desktop. Underneath everything else.. which is quite obnoxious.
The default icon set and theme aren’t thrilling, either. If you’ve seen any KDE4 previews, that’s what you’re getting.. and nothing else. If this is our future then I think I’ll hold onto the past until it’s not filled with rubbish, thanks.