KDE Desktop VS Gnome

After several hours of reading posts on www.boycottnovell.com with regards to the mono code in Gnome and that fool Miguel oh what ever his name is are really hurting the Gnome desktop. Huh! Why? You ask, because they are using .NET code in certain Gnome applications when they can use C++, Java or even Python, but no the they choose to use a proprietary Microsoft(sucks) core language. So I decided it was time for a change and I took KDE for a spin, and you know what I found out is that KDE Desktop is a more solid desktop from a user stand point. Yes, Yes I know what your going to say but in your last post you trashed KDE! That was before I tried it, we all make mistakes damn it at least I can admit mines.

After using KDE for some reason Gnome feels cheap, like is missing something.
A good example is the Dolphin file manager, it just feels more like what a file manager should be, oh dare I say it feels more along the lines of Windows. The one thing Gnome has going for it is the fact that is highly customizable and you can tinker with pretty much every and the same maybe true for KDE I just have not tried to make any custom configurations to it.

Also KDE applications feel like they are part of the Desktop or for what it seems like the OS, I don't for some reason it has a great feel to it. What I mean is that it feels like everything flows right where as in Gnome most applications just don't seem to fit at times, maybe because some are KDE applications or they are applications that are design/built for just Linux with no specific desktop or Distro in mind. Regardless of what the issue with Gnome is, KDE will get more of my attention. The one drawback that I though would be an issue was the KDE icons, but I found out that I can change their size, so it worked out great!

Why Ubuntu/Gnome and not Ubuntu/KDE?

It is a very sad day folks, at least for me. I've heard that they are porting KDE 4 to Windows, now why would anyone want to do this is beyond me. Well if you run KD4 in it's native Linux environment why even bother running it in Windows, well let's take a look at some of the possibilities.

• So you can laugh hard on how much it sucks
• So you can use some of the applications that you love to use on Linux and because you are too lazy to just install VirtualBox+Windows(much better windows performance and security).
• So you can say yes KDE4 finally on Windows(why would anyone want this again?)
• So you can promote a Linux app?(I doubt that)
• So that Windows developers consider developing for KDE?(nope they want to get paid).
  

Well ok you don't like any of those suggestions then stick to Gnome+Ubuntu. To me KD version x just sucks, everything is huge on your screen by default (made for people who have some type of vision disorder, blind...cough). Although the new version seems user friendly and the file manager dolphin is really good, I just can't see my self using it. The funny thing is that Gnome for some reason seems alot more like windows to me. So to all you KDE 4 users stick to Linux platform there is nothing to gain by running a windows port of it. Jesus it's a 4 hour install on a Windows pc (can you say insane), don't believe me then read this "Can KDE Save a Dying Windows Platform? ". So I say to all you KDE developers stick to Linux because you don't see Windows developers porting their software to Linux so why should you!

I, Me, Myself and I...

I'm a Ubuntu faithful and believe that this operating system has such great potential that we can very well see it in all of the desktop user space (home/corporate) in the very near future. I'm currently using Ubuntu Gutsy(version 7.10) and I absolutely love it; I can pretty much do everything I use to do on my Windows PC but I no longer have to worry about the hassles such as the constant freezing due to some outrageous virus or just dare I say bad code within the operating system (could have been driver issues as well). Regardless I am now an extremely happy camper as I can now use all of the applications Ubuntu provides(free of charge) and not have any issues what so ever.

So what's so good about Ubuntu?

Well other than what I just mentioned above Ubuntu can be what ever you like; a server to host your databases, web sites and files or simply serve as your desktop PC. As I mentioned before Ubuntu comes with pre-installed software such as Open Office, GIMP, Fire Fox, Pidgin(instant Messenger), Evolution(Email Client) and Rhythbox Music Player. You can also install software that is available through the software repositories; Oh yes what is that? Repositories are software channels which basically give you access to install most of the open source/free software that is out there on the web, simply do a search for a particular type of software or if you know the name you will get results (if its available) then you click the check box and then apply and that is it. So no more *.exe installs and broken registry(OS failure).

Let me give you a quick rundown of all the pre-installed applications I mentioned above.

Open Office

This free robust office application gives you the power to create/edit documents just like Microsoft Office 2003 does but the only catch is that it is free to use meaning no licensing fees from you know who. Open Office has all the MS Office 2003 tools and some additional ones too. The only issue with Open Office is that it does not have a very good grammar checker. But the best thing about it is that because this is an open source product new extensions are being developed all the time which can be freely download it here http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/ . You can also save the documents you create straight to PDF files and you can also read/write to the MS Office 2003 format. There is one thing I should mention when opening some files that were created in MS Office 2003 some formating is lost depending on how complex a particular document is, other than this issue everything works great.

For more information visit: http://www.openoffice.org

GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)

Think along the lines of Adobe Photoshop with a twist. The GIMP has most of the functionality that PhotoShop has meaning that you can create all sorts of graphics and manipulate your photos as you like. For more information visit: http://www.gimp.org/

Fire Fox

Need I say more, ah you are probably reading this blog with the Fire Fox web browser(let's hope).

Pidgin(Instant Messenger)

Pidgin is sort of what Trillian use to be or is. With Pidgin you have have multiple Instant messeging accounts such as Yahoo, Google, MSN, Jabber, ICQ and yes even IRC chats.

Evolution

If you need to have an email client which lives on your desktop and not on the web Evolution is such a program. It is very much like MS Outlook in terms of functionality, you can create task, memos (notes) , manage your calendar and contacts. The best part about Evolution is that you can use it for your Google Account and pretty much all web mail services that give you access to POP3 or IMAP.

Rhythmbox Music Player

Media in Ubuntu is very straight forward meaning no DRM(Digital Rights Management) to worry about, no activation and again no hassles period. Ubuntu gives you a choice to install restricted software from the restricted repositories which contain proprietary codecs and other software a quick search in Synaptic(repositories) can get this accomplish, but you can aslo try installing the Medibuntu packages (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Medibuntu). Rhythmbox is very basic and straight forward which is what a music player should be. It is very similar to Apple iTunes and has lots of plugins for online music stores, radio and LastFM. You can also create plalists and burn cds right from it and it also supports most MP3 Players and I think Ipods too.

Eye Candy in Ubuntu

This new version of Ubuntu gives you Compiz Fusion by default and how sweet the eye candy is. You think Vista looks pretty(nope) Ubuntu desktop effects blow it out of the water and to my surprise most of it is very useful to navigate on your desktop. Speaking of desktops Ubuntu gives you a choice between Gnome (http://www.gnome.org/) or KDE (http://www.kde.org/) desktops. I personally like Gnome as it is more along the lines of Windows XP and it is very easy to get accustomed to but you can always choose between the two and change it any time you like without any activation or hassles.

This about sums it up, there is more but if I type it all up you could be reading for hours. So many features so little time.

Hardy Heron(Ubuntu 8.04 LTS)

I'm very excited about the new upcoming release “Hardy Heron” because they have added new features to this already powerful OS. While the current version of Ubuntu(Gutsy 7.10) is solid it lacks certain little things such as a better remote desktop application to connect to other PCs remotely whether is a Linux or Windows PC. Also there are a number of things that can be improved in Nautilus(File Manager). Well the great thing about this new release is that they are addressing some of the above mentioned issues and then some.

From the information I have gathered out there on the web it seems that they are going to make it more flexible in terms or running applications with certain credentials and to be able to run a pre-installed virtualization application called KVM. Also the CD burning application(Serpentine) is being tossed and replaced by Brasero(Screen Shots) as the default CD burning application. For web file downloading they have added the new Bit Torrent client and Fire Fox 3 will also be included which gives you better security and web browsing enhancements. In the sound department we will see Pulse Audio Server(What is Pulse Audio?) installed by deafult.

On the Security side Hardy will now include an actual GUI to configure your internal firewall although it can be easily done through the command line (terminal) now. (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuFirewall).

Get more information about Hardy Heron and it's upcoming features from the links below:

• https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardyHeron/Alpha4 (screen shots provided)
  
• https://blueprints.launchpad.net/ubuntu/hardy