Someone reviewed v on Jul 5, 2022

Pros: 555

Cons: 555

Bottom Line: 555

colincook reviewed v4.8 on Mar 8, 2019

Pros: Nice UI. Pretty quick scan (except deep scan). I think it works like most other free recovery software.
google street view https://ggstreetview.com maps

Cons: First of all, you can't alter and save filter presets. In case for example you're looking for document files but the document file type is not included in the preset, you have to append it in filter box. And then the filtering process can be TERRIBLY SLOW. Moreover, you can't save the list of files found in case you need to resume work later. You have to redo the scan again.

Bottom Line: OK if your hard drive isn't too big.

cool_guy reviewed v4.7.4 on Dec 9, 2011

Don't waste your time with KDE4.x (see other posters below). If you want a truly awesome and usable desktop environment, try Trinity Desktop Environment - it's a KDE3.5 fork with many updates - trinitydesktop.org

eblade reviewed v4.6.2 on Apr 7, 2011

The interface of KDE turned from reasonably decent to absolute garbage. This is the worst operating environment I've attempted to use perhaps since Windows 3.1, if not Windows 2.0. This is terrible.

anandee reviewed v4.5.3 on Jan 24, 2011

KDE 4 (4.5.3 too) is such a disaster, a miserable failure, a bloody mess, a death blow to GNU/Linux community in the wider sense (and to credibility of KDE 3) that no one should never, ever think to use or watch at it.
I bothered to use it on various distributions, from earlier 4.0 to now, it was simply disgusting.
It completely mises the point to be usable, even if compared to Windows 3.11's desktop environment.
It is all a matter of bells and whistles, cpu-wasting effects, with no real usability.
Plus, it is still unstable and slow.
Please KDE team, KILL the 4 line and release a KDE 5 at least on par with Windows 3.11 NOW!

Meeky reviewed v4.5.3 on Dec 4, 2010

After upgrading, internet died and the hard drives won't mount. It would pop up an error message instead of the usual password dialogue box. Great job on those bugs you guys. Now you have a useless pretty box. At least ugly GNOME still works as expected.

alshawwa reviewed v4.5.1 on Sep 1, 2010

KDE is a good interface for unix/linux based system , for people who actually care about the looks , kde developers are doing a great and a huge job to fix the bugs and its getting better and better on each release

gnome still rocks as a solid environment and in my case im sticking with it on my linux boxes

marty reviewed v4.5.0 on Aug 12, 2010

Unless the developers do some with a right click on the desktop I'll certainly stay with Gnome I install KDE just for kicks

jrepin reviewed v4.5.0 on Aug 11, 2010

i absolutely love the whole KDE software collection. It has some very useful innovative features like desktop-wide tagging/rating/commenting of iles. And you can make semantic connections between files and e-mails and places and other pieces of data. And you can use all this information later when searching for some info or working on a project. Simply awesome. Windows manager is also awesome. simply the most powerful I've ever used, also supports basic tilling and tabbing features. Part of KDE are also some of the best Linux apps that I would also like to see on Windows (like okular, Digikam, k3b, Kdenlive). And the desktop itself is just genius, it is all modular and made of basic components/widgets called Plasmoids. and they are not just an annoying addon like on other desktops. The entire desktop is actually built out of them, like you can build with LEGO bricks. This makes desktop extremely flexible and anyone can built it exactly the way she wants. not to mention how gorgeous KDE desktop looks even by default. And with some extra theming and tweaking it can become ven better looking.

bassmanitram reviewed v4.4.3 on May 2, 2010

Konno, I did use it - I tried it over and over again. And, for reference, I've used KDE since pre-version 1. My experienced opinion - KDE 4 is very badly though-out piece of software with little to no real User focus - it seems to have been based solely on what a group of computer "expert" developers THOUGHT the user wanted without really investigating - a suicidal move in software development (I am a professional developer too so I know!). I'm afraid like others I am moving to GNOME - itself not perfect by ANY means - and it loses to KDE 3.5 - but it is better than KDE 4 by far, and Gnome Shell promises to be a KDE killer. In summary KDE 4 is to the KDE legacy what Windows Vista was to the Windows legacy!

Artem S. Tashkinov reviewed v4.4.3 on May 1, 2010

If only KDE developers knew it's already released :)

konno reviewed v4.4.3 on Apr 30, 2010

None of you use it, and yet you still fell like you need to bash it and give it zero (if you could) just for the heck of it, sigh...

elitegangsta reviewed v4.4.3 on Apr 30, 2010

can't stand KDE, much prefer gnome.

B__B reviewed v4.4.2 on Apr 8, 2010

Give us back the KDE!

robmanic44 reviewed v4.4.1 on Mar 8, 2010

This is a case of what might have been. At one time I considered it to be one of the beat things about Linux, and I thought they should release KOffice version for Windows. It's definitely an example of an update gone wrong.

Unfortunately, it's just one of the many examples of the fact that newer doesn't mean better.

thartist reviewed v4.4.0 on Feb 10, 2010

fantastic...ally bloated and overfeatured instead of feature-full, denotes a serious lack of sense in design goals. a pity.

Mystenes reviewed v4.4.0 on Feb 10, 2010

new version, yet another reason to use GNOME or XFCE

B__B reviewed v4.4 RC1 (4.3.90) on Jan 11, 2010

I used to LOVE KDE3, used it for years.
I've tried to NOT HATE KDE4, and I tried it again and again, version after version, update after update, and now all I can say is that KDE4 is the worst thing that happened in computer world after Windows.
Now I'm a Gnome user, my love story with KDE stops here.

frankwick reviewed v4.4 Beta 2 (4.3.85) on Dec 21, 2009

I like this. I do think it is time for a new UI font. KDE usually follows windows closely so we may see a new font soon (Windows now uses Segoe UI).

I like the fact that quick launch is still on the task bar. MS removed theirs in Win 7. The KDE quick launch looks crowded though.

All the cool effects take the right hardward. You don't get good effects in a virtual instance.

garretthylltun reviewed v4.3 RC3 on Jul 23, 2009

KDE 4.x, The Wannabe Vista of the Linux Desktops!

In fact, KDE 3.x had the right idea, it was usable, it was clean, it was polished, it had some glitz to it and you knew how to use it.

KDE 4.x on the other hand has taken a most foul turn in development and has become not so user friendly at all and focused all on glitz and none on usability. Add to the pain of this uber awesome interface(though sweet looking, but not so sweet to use) is the fact that it requires enormous amounts of resources. I have a 1.8 ghz box with 2 gb of ram, and I could barely use KDE 4.x at all. Granted my PC isn't the latest PC of the month, it's about 2 years old, but still, systems should still run on a 1.8 ghz box with 2 gb of ram without making you want to scream.

The new start menu is strenuous as you have to click through sections and click back out of sections. The desktop itself is pure gadget setup, even the icons for your desktop are a gadget.

Gnome and XFCE on the other hand may not be oh so full of glitz and wonders, but they are clean, smooth and don't require a top of the line $7,000 USD AlienWare box to run on.

Now if you really want glitz that doesn't suck your PC's blood dry and want usability, then check out Enlightenment DR17. They did what I think KDE 4.x was trying to do. It's glitz, it's easy on resources, it's *usable*.

I give KDE 3.x 5 stars, but KDE 4.x gets 1 star. I really think KDE has taken a seriously wrong turn in it's development. One that it may not be able to return from.

viveksj reviewed v4.3 RC3 on Jul 22, 2009

Keep getting better. The best KDE distro i have seen is Pardus 2009. Excellent job, keep it up.

mflip reviewed v4.3 RC on Jul 1, 2009

This is nothing more than a cheap rip-off of Mac OS X and KDE 4.x doesn't even work properly most of the time. The latest stable version of Gnome is specifically designed for power users while being easy enough to use for less tech savvy people. Too bad KDE 4.x can't be this good. I give KDE two stars because it looks nice. At least the developers got something right.

bittermann reviewed v4.3 Beta 1 on May 13, 2009

Getting better and better with every update. This next release should bring it up to par with KDE 3.X.

Aegis69 reviewed v4.2.3 on May 6, 2009

Gnome and XFCE are so much smoother, more polished looking and simpler to use that KDE is irrelevant.

computershack reviewed v4.2.1 on Mar 8, 2009

KDE. Proof that there's next to knack all quality control in Linux.

thartist reviewed v4.2.1 on Mar 6, 2009

mandriva 2009.1beta... kde 4.2... live cd was almost torture... until firefox 3.07 hung up my pc with only 4 tabs open
i'll try KDE again in 2029

Artem S. Tashkinov reviewed v4.2 RC1 on Jan 17, 2009

Getting better and better, unfortunately feature-wise it's still not on par with KDE 3.5.10. If you need the same configurability as KDE 3.5.10, you will probably have to wait till KDE 4.3.

As for KDE 4.2 RC1: it has become faster and more responsive, features are being steadily added, all in all it's getter much better. KDE developers themselves call this release the first real 4.0 release.

zridling reviewed v4.2 Beta 2 on Jan 7, 2009

Try it on Fedora 10 or openSUSE 11.1, it's freaky good.

JEdwardP reviewed v4.2 Beta 2 on Jan 6, 2009

There have always been some things I've liked about some distros that use KDE, but I'm just generally annoyed by eye candy, which means I prefer Gnome. KDE has also always seemed slower than Gnome to me, and I've seen nothing in the 4.x series to change that.

I'll keep taking a look at KDE, and hoping it gets quicker and less glitzy, but that hasn't happened yet.

netean reviewed v4.2 Beta 2 on Jan 6, 2009

Running 4.2 beta 1 on this kubuntu laptop (installed to a usb stick). Looks nice, at last the taskbars can autohide. But it's so damned slow, so painfully slow that I had to install xfce and use that instead. Sadly, very sadly I actually think XFCE is more intuitive and usable (not just speed-wise) I did like kde for a long time, but 4.x just doesn't do it for me! It's flashy and eye candy (which I love) but not as usable as xfce or gnome

styxchan reviewed v4.2 Beta 2 on Jan 6, 2009

There is no comparision between gnome and KDE ! KDE is not a simple minimalistic interface but a clean and enhenceable desktop manager. The package has also been ported to windows ! Where is gnome for windows ? And dont compare 3.5.10 with a "new" KDE 4.

Darkk reviewed v4.2 Beta 1 on Nov 28, 2008

I hate the KDE 4.2 (4.x in general) interface. This is another case of developers going off in a direction that users don't want.

I want a live and useable desktop like 3.5, don't care for the desktop plasmoids, what few there are. Most tray apps from older releases don't work right. As to fancy graphic jiggle and desktop rotating cube effects go, I could care less. I prefer the older method of switching desktops via the pager and do not want to waste time watching stuff jiggle and move on screen when I want to make a change.

I've *really* tried hard to like the 4.x releases, to see what the developers had in mind when they made this drastic UI change, but I just don't get it. I've been a KDE user since the very beginning. If this is the KDE future, I am going to have to make a switch to Gnome.

I'll keep an eye on this, but won't be moving beyond KDE 3.5 for my daily use any time soon. Perhaps when the later releases are fully fleshed out I may change my mind. I was hoping that might be in the 4.2 series, but it is looking like I'll need to wait for later releases.

viveksj reviewed v4.1.2 on Oct 6, 2008

Works fine for me. I am new to KDE but with a little comparison after trying Gnome and KDE 3.5 i notice 4.1 takes less memory and a bit faster. Yes, it does not have some of the options and freedom that KDE 3.5 and Gnome has. I am very sure this will be fixed in coming versions and get to the point of beauty with the brain.
I also see some innovation in KDE 4.1. I really like the idea of folder view. its new different and keeps desktop clean.

marty reviewed v4.1.2 on Oct 5, 2008

No matter the lipstick. KDE 4.x is unstable. Just like Vista desktops you can blow away your entire Linux setup with one mistyped keystroke or a mouse click. Use GNOME as your default and change to KDE 4 if you want to play with fire. Or use KDE 3 for stability.

Windows doesn't give a choice - even you use Windowblinds or other toys. With Windows if you install the latest and greatest video drive you can hose your system. In Linux you restore such a mistake from the command line in rescue mood. Just be sure to have backed up xor.con.

Your mileage may vary

Jesus Christ reviewed v4.1.2 on Oct 4, 2008

KDE 4.x is the best version of KDE ever released. It's easier to use than Vista's Aero Glass interface and much more customizable. Gnome is still better than KDE and always has been. I can't see why Linus Torvalds favors KDE over Gnome so much.

sps reviewed v4.1.2 on Oct 4, 2008

The 4.x interface sucks :(
Agree 100% with the review below...
For the first time I moved to gnome, new ver 2.24 seems promising

DudeBoyz reviewed v4.1.2 on Oct 4, 2008

Article About KDE 4 Issues (worth a read):

http://practical-tech.com/operating-system/kde-404-bad-just-plain-bad/

REVIEW OF KDE VERSION 4.1.2 BELOW:

I'm running 4.1.2 that came with SUSE 11 BETA 2

There seem to be some improvements in terms of panel controls in 4.1.2 but I'm not noticing much else at first glance. I'll try to find a specific changelog to help me find what is not so obviously different and do some testing.

Of note is the more obvious method of relocating the panel to different areas of the screen. The awkward right-click and drag method is no longer required. But more work needs to be done. Usability really does need to be improved, so it at least matches the effectiveness and productivity of KDE 3.5.

REVIEW OF KDE VERSION 4.1.1 BELOW:

I was a longtime KDE fan until the 4.x series. The GUI is just flat-out slow and some of the changes they have made are incredibly annoying.

That widget thing in the upper right corner, which is duplicated on the Panel just doesn't need to be there.

The changes they have made to the time/date display on a Panel is another annoying thing. I want to be able to set the text size and characteristics to be identical for time and date.

Do you know that if you add a digital clock widget to the desktop, configure it to show Date, Day of Week and Year and then resize it to make it very large that the text showing the TIME scales up but the Date, Day of Week and Year do not? So the TIME is 48 points in size and the rest is 6 or 8 points in size? Huh?

Overlapping panels is another pain in the tail. Especially when it defaults to having the widget control active in each one.

Why can you not simply right-click on the desktop to create a new folder? Why should I have to go into the Dolphin file manager, create a folder there and then drag/drop it onto the desktop? That's a ton of steps to have to take for something that should be so much simpler. How is adding these extra steps going to help users be productive? Why can't you just select one of the boundaries of a folder and left click and drag to alter the width or height? Why should you have to use that absurd scaling icon?

Why do you have to have each icon fade in an attached tool bar when you move over it, and why do they NOT provide a tool-tip when you move the cursor over each of the icons on that toolbar? I mean - the big red X at the very bottom makes sense, but what about the other items on the bar? And why is it that when you move your mouse over the icon and then to the toolbar for that icon, the semi-transparent background for the icon fades away? It should stay there for the entire time you are working with that icon's toolbar.

When you find out that one is for resizing an individual icon and another is for rotating that individual icon, don't you just want to chuckle? I mean - who the heck thought THOSE features had to be thrown in the mix? That's just great - let's have a desktop with 20 different sized icons at 18 different rotation angles - ooohhh - that'll look purdy...

But if you want uniform icon sizes (both the graphic and the text) and a grid that they can snap to, and you want to be able to quickly create a folder to help organize the desktop, don't bother looking in the right-click context menu for Desktop Settings, cause you ain't gonna find it there.

Why is the "Desktop Settings" dialog so sparse? I should be able to set desktop options such as icon and grid settings right from that dialog. It makes sense that it would be there, right? But it's not.

The panel settings mode with the Blue and Green triangles is confusing. Should they be aligned? Should they not be?

What about when you want to dock the panel to another location (top, either side, etc.) - it should be a no brainer - but it's easy to end up resizing the panel instead of getting it to move. You need to RIGHT click and drag? That's not a common thing - most people LEFT click and drag. That's the convention, isn't it? What a mess.

Why can I not open the menu and either LEFT click and drag or RIGHT click and drag folders onto the desktop? The GAMES folder for instance. Why can't it default to a condition that allows me to grab that entire folder and copy it to the desktop?

Overall, I think the interface is NOT intuitive. It's confusing and puts Flash and Sizzle over Ease Of Use. You should not have to RE-LEARN so darn many things just to get back to being productive.

You should not have to re-learn the interface. That's one of the reasons that I rag on Vista vs XP and Office 2007's Ribbon vs the standard toolbars.

Ok - I DO like the BLUE CURL background - but not enough to rate this 4.x version very high.

I can understand now why Red Hat wanted to create a unified interface in their product lines.

There is a lot more I could whine about, but the bottom line is that KDE 4.x is such an unintuitive and unproductive interface it's hardly worth using.

If you never used KDE before, maybe 4.x will appeal to you, but as a longtime KDE user, the changeover is just a mess.

I'm still sticking with KDE, but just going back to 3.5 where possible. I'm not a Gnome fan, but using Gnome in Mandriva 2009 RC2 is simply more productive than KDE is. Commands are more logical, configuration of the desktop is easier and the overall interface feels more familiar.

I am SOOOO tempted to give this thing a 1 rating. But it's not quite that totally bad. But if we could give a 1.5 rating instead of a 2, that'd be what I'd give it, I think.

turistas reviewed v4.1.2 on Oct 3, 2008

tried and back to gnome:)

zridling reviewed v4.1.1 on Sep 4, 2008

4.1x has been solid as a rock for me, and my computer never gets turned off. Got both Gnome and KDE installed, but where I liked Gnome better before KDE 4.x, I love KDE now. Looks good, works well, and has more apps that I prefer written for it.

Artem S. Tashkinov reviewed v4.1.1 on Sep 3, 2008

elitegangsta:

Then stop using and bashing KDE altogether. Your preferences should NOT ever affect your evaluations, otherwise you will sound silly ... like now.

elitegangsta reviewed v4.1.1 on Sep 3, 2008

Gnome is a much better, cleaner, faster window manager for the beginning user. Enlightenment is my preference of choice. KDE is WAY too windows like, OS X like, and lacks some original thought. If this was my only window manager to choose from, I'd run text based. I suppose it is good however for beginners and Windows fans.

mflip reviewed v4.1.0 on Jul 30, 2008

This is complete crap. I installed the KDE 4 remix version of Kubuntu 8.04.1. Somehow the clock and icons next to it all got shifted to the left side of the taskbar next to the K menu. Because of this the taskbar would no longer show which programs I had running. I had to rely on ALT+TAB. Apparently it's not possible to drag the clock back over to the right side of the taskbar where it belongs like you can do in KDE 3.5.9.

Rafel reviewed v4.1.0 on Jul 29, 2008

I prefer Gnome. I am Ubuntu user, and i "tasted" some versions of KDE, and always i swith back to Gnome.

zenarcher reviewed v4.0.3 on Apr 2, 2008

I'm experimenting with 4.0.2 right now on Mandriva 2008.1 and it's really progressing along! Can't wait for this update and see how much better it will be. I'm a KDE user all the way, as I love the ease of configuring the desktop and it just does everything I want.

HornyToad reviewed v4.0.1 on Feb 6, 2008

Hi all!

I must say I'm amazed: KDE 4 is not only good- (even better-)looking, it's also much more user-friendly, and doesn't seem to be quite the power-hog some predicted it would become... Tried it first on a newly-minted Kubuntu live-cd, then decided to install it on a new partition on my Toshiba laptop (my Guinea pig of all trades...), just for the fun of it, and I just love it. One thing, though: what was called Kwifi Manager on former versions of KDE is now so well hidden I have yet to find it...

If anyone knows where it's gone hiding, feel free to holler...

Aside from that, a plain 5. Truly deserved, IMHO!

Ian C. reviewed v4.0.1 on Feb 6, 2008

Well it's available for windows now, in the alpha phase. But there is no KDE shell port planned. :(

http://techbase.kde.org/...on_Windows/Installation

Using kdewin-installer-gui-0.8.5.exe to install 4.00.80 packages:

* starting a KDE program correctly starts dbus-daemon.exe
* many games run
* choosing File > Open correctly starts klauncher.exe, kioslave.exe and kded4.exe, and runs kbuildsycoca4.exe as needed.
* Help > Program Handbook (often mapped to the [F1] key) does not work because the KDE Help Center is not available on Windows. This is due to its use of the K3Process interface and external dependencies not ported such as perl scripts, htdig, and other libraries.
o khelpcenter will be included in the next unstable release. The K3Process issues are fixed now. Perl scripts are disabled, which means there is no fulltext search. -- rhabacker
* Applications that try to play sounds will display an alert about "Multimedia Backend" problems. A Windows backend for Phonon is not packaged yet.

General notes:

* There are many other KDE programs that are not part of KDE 4.0.0 and are not currently packaged for Windows, such as KOffice 2 and Amarok.
* By design, KDE-windows does not provide the full-blown KDE desktop, thus no KWin composite manager, KDE-specific "start" menus, Plasma desktop, etc.

bigmama reviewed v4.0 (3.96) RC1 on Nov 24, 2007

KDE

+ Good enviroment
+ Clear colors
+ Some good programs
- Gnome simplicity is better
- Desktop OS (e.g. ubuntu or fedora) use Gnome so i used to gnome

dpcdpc11 reviewed v4.0 (3.96) RC1 on Nov 21, 2007

there are tears of joy in my eyes to see that someone is working to port KDE4 on windows... just love this kde... hopefully not long after the final KDE4 for linux release.. there will be a windows port as well... currently i'm using bbLean and i got the most of it and would be the perfect time to switch to another shell.

guti reviewed v4.0 (3.96) RC1 on Nov 20, 2007

Waiting for the Windows port here...
BTW, would love a Win x64 native release of KDE 4!

Ian C. reviewed v4.0 (3.95) Beta 4 on Oct 31, 2007

Bah! When is there gonna be a windows version. I love KDE, but I love my games too.

skrzat reviewed v4.0 (3.95) Beta 4 on Oct 31, 2007

Screenshot is from very old version 3.4.x :)

darkripper reviewed v4.0 (3.94) Beta 3 on Oct 18, 2007

KDE and Gnome are good but not perfect

AlanS2001 reviewed v4.0 (3.92) Beta 1 on Aug 2, 2007

Saying that a release has too many bugs for an alpha release is kind of stupid. From the wikipedia entry on "Software release life cycle" (http://en.wikipedia.org/...ware_release_life_cycle): "Each major version of a product usually goes through a stage when new features are added, or the alpha stage; a stage when it is being actively debugged, or the beta stage; and finally a stage when all important bugs have been removed, or the stable stage". In other words, depending on how much the program is being modified, how much new features are being integrated there could be any number of bugs and this is not necessarily a reflection on the quality of the software. This part of the development process is not primarily concerned with ironing out bugs. That aside, KDE still sucks and that is a better basis on which to judge this release than some stupid "this alpha has too many bugs" basis. Perhaps my opinion of KDE will change in the future, but at the moment I just don't plain like it or think it is anywhere near as good as other available graphical desktop environments that are available to run on top of an X server. I base opinion on what I value in this sort of software.

robmanic44 reviewed v4.0 Alpha 1 on May 13, 2007

All I want to know is when does it port to Windows and does KOffice come with it? That would be exciting news as KOffice is one of the best suites I've ever used. When loading linux I always take out OpenOffice and use KOffice.

Mandeep reviewed v4.0 Alpha 1 on May 13, 2007

Are you douchebags ever going to test this software, or just comment on past experiences that has nothing to do with this release? Anyway, this release has tons of bugs as an alpha release which is why I'm giving it an average rating. I swear you guys are the biggest ****ers when it comes to reviews.

aszure reviewed v4.0 Alpha 1 on May 13, 2007

Vista? First off...Vista is an operating system. KDE is a graphical interface that lies upon a linux kernel. In all actuality its just a gui.

So in all reality, its kinda dumb to compare the two. Because they are different.

I have used KDE since its inception, and aside from it being a total system hog, its a very nice gui. The customizations combined with the various other gui addons can make this an incredible desktop. However, if you are expecting to use your old 400 P2...you will be sadly unpleased with its performance.

wodez reviewed v4.0 Alpha 1 on May 13, 2007

Windows vista sucks horses ass

romanjhv reviewed v4.0 Alpha 1 on May 13, 2007

KDE + Beryl or Compiz is better Graphical O.S. .
Windows Vista? No thanks.

cowgaR reviewed v4.0 Alpha 1 on May 13, 2007

a toy for kids wanting to allways live "on the edge" and waiting for some other kid's project in their own world...living their lives with alphas, more alphas and even more aplhas (the 3rd are called "stable" version in linux world, that is because they get multiple versioning later fixing gazillion bugs and numerous crashes, you know, linux kernel won't crash, just the "X";)

the answer is 120$...and windows vista premium, a operating system of a 21st century (linux simply CAN NOT compare), not a kid toy anymore. Do not have 120 bucks?

get a life

fair_is_fair reviewed v4.0 Alpha 1 on May 12, 2007

KDE desktop environment is found in many flavours of linux.
It is the easiest and most comfortable to use for those familiar with Windows.
Most linux users also prefer KDE with Gnome following.
The power and configurability of Kde is awesome.
It comes with a full suite of programs that will handle most needs including download manager, games, office, mail client, and on and on.
In fact, I'm writing this via KDE in Sidux linux.

AntiochMedia reviewed v4.0 Alpha 1 on May 12, 2007

Couldn't find this on the KDE Website... what is new between 3.x and 4.x?

Alex1974BR reviewed v4.0 Alpha 1 on May 12, 2007

Check out Windows Vista... it´s a lot better!!!!

Dsfargeg reviewed v4.0 Alpha 1 on May 12, 2007

Gnome is much better for the resons others already stated (better usability, uses fewer resources etc.)

I'll still give it a 4 since it's free and not that bad.

hycris reviewed v3.5.4 on Aug 3, 2006

font is ugly compared with commercial Windows as well as Apple.

the experience is also cannot compared with them.

However, I still rate it 5,

It is free, what do i expected something more?

Gnome and KDE are all fine.

if it charge me $$$$, I would rate it 2 or less.

tehmul reviewed v3.5.3 on Jun 1, 2006

I find KDE very usable - I tried other windowing environments, but I keep coming back to this one.

Arakiel reviewed v3.5 on Nov 29, 2005

I totally disagree with horsecharles, IMO Gnome is not more intuitive for the Windows user, KDE is by far the more Windows like UI with Gnome leaning towards more Mac like operation. I also disagree that KDE is a "still-green" app, KDE is quite refined.

That said, KDE is also an extreme resource hog, much more so then Gnome. It's everything PLUS the kitchen sink...even those twirly things no one ever uses to dice potatoes.

Ulmo reviewed v3.5 on Nov 29, 2005

I give 5 because it work easely, bugless,
enough speed (perhaps less than Gnome, ok)
and i find it more beautyfull.

I try every WM i find, but KDE is still my fiend !

horsecharles reviewed v3.5 on Nov 29, 2005

Agree w/ Banquo: Gnome's better, more intuitive(for someone used to Windows), more robust/stable.

I wonder who/why's been giving such a relatively-still-green project so many 5's...

Gerwin reviewed v3.5 on Nov 29, 2005

@netean: Don't agree with you on this one: Apple did a very good job on polishing the BSD-'turd'. Which brings me to another thing: I never understood why both the KDE guys and the Gnome guys went with the XP look and feel, and didn't come up with something better, like Apple did with OSX.

Banquo reviewed v3.5 Beta 2 on Oct 18, 2005

It's improving all the time, but I still prefer Gnome. The KDE task bar is just way too cluttered.

surfbum4fun reviewed v3.5 Beta 2 on Oct 18, 2005

Solaris 10 is a great O/S , but comes with very little drivers. Pain in the rear. Has for KDE, I'm a Gnome person but I did install KDE in Ubuntu, and I kind of like it.

robmanic44 reviewed v3.5 Beta 2 on Oct 18, 2005

The linux folks need to make this their default. K-Office is worth the price of admission. I just loaded Mandrake 10.1 for a friend, but I'm out of the linux business until they put some bite in LSB. I'm taking a close look at Solaris for my old ZT. Can't hurt.

netean reviewed v3.5 Beta 1 on Sep 21, 2005

kde is a nice window manager. looks nice, clean (IMO) and is easy to use. It's just a pity that it's bolted on to Linux/BSD. as they're dire. and as they say you can't polish a túrd!

DiGiTaLFX reviewed v3.5 Alpha 1 on Aug 13, 2005

I thought we were going to get a major version next. Not another minor. Anyway KDE has gone down in my opinion lately, and now it feels quite toyish. Really it makes more sense to me to use a gtk based wm seeing as the majority of the apps I use are gtk based...

Tokar reviewed v3.4.2 on Jul 28, 2005

Its great...its too bad i dont use or have the desire to use linux anymore.

Nix_Hard reviewed v3.4.1 on Jun 1, 2005

UP TO DATE KDE 3.4 Screenshots Screen Shots Here;
http://www.kde.org/screenshots/kde340shots.php

quote->>One thing I won't ever understand: who makes these sh*t crappy screenshots on this page above ? Even my first ever KDE desktop dunnohowmany years ago looked better than that crap.

niti reviewed v3.4.1 on Jun 1, 2005

Congratulations KDE

I am really happy since Linux fast developing. I love this OS. It is really more better than its rivals. And I agree about screenshot above. It is a screenshot 4 years before(I think it belongs to KDE 3.0). Please renew it as for KDE 3.4.1...

crashoverride reviewed v3.4.1 on Jun 1, 2005

I hope to ba able to actually use KDE 3.4 eventually. I don't understand wanting to be able to hide things in the system tray myself. That's one fo the first things I turn off in winxp. A for it not really matching the rest of the DE, as suggested, make it transparent, i like that feature better that anything else really.

allsiante reviewed v3.4 on Mar 17, 2005

"But I do agree about kicker. It really does look out dated in comparison to the rest of ___the OS___"

The DE you mean. And besides, why don't you make it fully transparent, it supports that for quite a while, and voila, it will go with all your styles. I use it transparent since it supports it, and it's just as cool as the rest of the stuff.

"autohide items on the tray"

Jeez, one of the many creepy stuff I hate in winXP, and I'm not alone.

One thing I won't ever understand: who makes these sh*t crappy screenshots on this page above ? Even my first ever KDE desktop dunnohowmany years ago looked better than that crap.

DiGiTaLFX reviewed v3.4 RC1 on Feb 28, 2005

KDE is definatly the best. But I do agree about kicker. It really does look out dated in comparison to the rest of the OS! Could do with the ability to match the look of the window decorations for example. And the clock doesn't look very pretty either. Even after playing a bit with it.
Otherwise bang on!

niti reviewed v3.4 RC1 on Feb 28, 2005

I mean that the inactive icons can be automatically hid on the bottom right of the toolbar. Please see Windows XP's toolbar for best explanation. you will see "hide inactive icons" in the "properties" when you right clicked on the toolbar.

ArKay74 reviewed v3.4 RC1 on Feb 28, 2005

niti:

What do you mean with autohide tray? Hide unused systray icons (a feature I usually turn off in Windows)? There is a tool which can hide icons you don't want to see (not inactive ones though):

http://aseigo.blogspot.c...-hiding-news-at-11.html

If you mean program grouping, KDE has that. And it's smarter than Windows' counterpart in that it can also group them ONLY if there is no space left.

People who are interested in a bootable live-cd version of KDE 3.4RC1, check this out:

http://ktown.kde.org/~binner/klax/

niti reviewed v3.4 Beta 2 on Feb 10, 2005

There is one thing I cant understand that why KDE does not make any improvement on the kicker until now, which is also called "the taskbar" on Windows. I hate to use more virtual desktop. Kicker is really very bad on KDE. Why there is not the feature of the tray on tke kicker that is "autohide items on the tray" . Maybe you know this feature from Windows. In my opinion, it must be done on KDE to increase its user number.

DigitalSin reviewed v3.4 Beta 1 on Jan 14, 2005

You can't beat KDE!

noredspoon: I do have to respond to this comment you made:
"Performance-wise, Half-L
ife 2 through Wine runs better in Linux than native Half-Life 2 in Windows"

There is absolutely no way this could be possible unless you were running Windows on a significantly underpowered machine as compared to the machine running Linux. The native Windows drivers for your video card would completely outperform the emulated driver for wine. wine has much overhead. Perhaps you just got a bit carried away ;)

noredspoon reviewed v3.4 Alpha 1 on Dec 13, 2004

KDE isn't my personal choice, but it's great.

BlackCherry... yeah ok. Most of your favorite websites are probably running on Linux servers. I don't think I'm cool for not using Microsoft, but I do think I'm safer, faster, more stable, and have more choices. I also don't have to pay ridiculous prices for software that should be 1/3 of the price they charge. I've been running Ubuntu Linux (the development version, not the stable) for a few months now with no major crashes (since I'm running a development release there are going to be issues, but I'm helping to weed out the bugs). That's more than I can say for Windows. Performance-wise, Half-Life 2 through Wine runs better in Linux than native Half-Life 2 in Windows. Opening Firefox in Linux takes about 2 seconds. In Windows, about 6 or 8 seconds. All my hardware gets picked up, I can do everything I need to do. So rakhan, if you're thinking of switching, you should give it a shot. Ubuntu is a great starter distribution, they have great support forums. And don't listen to people like BlackCherry who say nothing productive. If they can only say things like that, they obviously don't know enough about it to make comments like that in the first place.

DonkyPuncher72 reviewed v3.4 Alpha 1 on Dec 11, 2004

Since I can't find a method for adding a new entry instead of editing my old post, I need to use a second name. This is rakhan66. Now for the other side of this:

As a person who is a Windows Home user (as in at Home, not XP Home), what are the benefits of switching? How does KDE stack up in compatibility terms? Transferring my personalized settings? Driver support? Network support? One of the reasons for what I just said to blackcherry was that I was hoping for actual REVIEWS, instead of half-hearted pathos such as, "Liek omgz, Lunix da bom, W1ind0ws suxx0rs!!!111oneoneone"

Anyone? Anyone at all? Really, I would LOVE to switch, if I have good reasons.

dtanderson reviewed v3.4 Alpha 1 on Dec 10, 2004

KDE is the best gui for Linux. This will probably be the last release for the 3.X series. Looking forward to the 4.X series because it can only get better :)

alister reviewed v3.4 Alpha 1 on Dec 10, 2004

KDE is always making their WM better with each release. I have tried Gnome several times but always end up going back to KDE. With all of the wonderful changes that Linux is experiencing and improving on, I may finally be able to ditch Windows all together.

Alister

rakhan66 reviewed v3.4 Alpha 1 on Dec 9, 2004

I can't give a rating for this, because I have no computer on which to install it, but BetaNews says I must, so I give it a 4 (It's unfair to rate the program poorly, but I have not ever used it myself, although I have mostly heard praise for it). In any event, that's not my purpose for replying.

As for Blackcherry; good job moron; with such an effectively rigorous comparison of this to Windows and evaluation of its weak points, I am compelled to stick with Windows. Oh, wait.

Instead of subscribing to the endless cycle of counter-countercultures, why not TELL ME WHY I shouldn't use this?

blackcherry reviewed v3.4 Alpha 1 on Dec 9, 2004

linux is for nerds who think they're cool by not using microsoft.

koomi reviewed v3.4 Alpha 1 on Dec 9, 2004

errm. shouldnt this be 3.4 alpha? aka 3.3.90

Musashi_Sama reviewed v3.3.1 on Oct 14, 2004

For me, the best "GUI" for Linux Users, Gnome is great too.

For newer screenshots: http://www.kde.org/screenshots/kde330shots.php

Sharp_Rulez reviewed v3.3 RC2 on Aug 10, 2004

I prefer Gnome, but KDE is (also) a *great* software!

allsiante reviewed v3.3 RC2 on Aug 10, 2004

KDE was and is my favourite. But I also would like to add: PLEASE CHANGE THE PHUKKING SCREENSHOT.

koomi reviewed v3.2.3 on Jun 11, 2004

personally i prefer kde over all those other wm/de out there, but could someone _please_ change the screenshot? it's prolly out of the 2.x series of kde and is a wee bit outdated .. ;-)

take a look at kde-look.org to see what kde can do ..

robmanic44 reviewed v3.2.2 on Apr 26, 2004

They just keep going toward the Windows-like experience. I am currently running KDE 3.2 with Mandrake 10.0. It would be nice if they started in a new direction. Linux is suppose to be about innovation; let's innovate.

jrepin reviewed v3.2.0 on Feb 3, 2004

I just upgraded from 3.1.5 and I feel it is a lot faster now. I also like the new applications included into the package. I also like the new Plastik theme a lot. Very nice and much more professional then the old one. Still the best desktop environment there is.

dacaveman reviewed v3.1.3 on Jul 30, 2003

best one by far.

to improvelence: ya, drugs to that to you...

jrepin reviewed v3.1 on Jan 28, 2003

Yup KDE is excellent. And the new default icons and theme in KDE 3.1 look awsome. And I like the new features a lot. And yes I agree, the screenshot should be changed to reflect new versions.

veeoh reviewed v3.1 on Jan 28, 2003

kde rocks - but when is that screenshot above going to reflect what kde actually looks like, not an old version? Hello? change it!

Hooded_Man reviewed v3.1 RC6 on Jan 10, 2003

KDE was always on top (quality and usebality considered) of any gui for Linux ,although it was quite heavy and slow. (still might be ,but with an Athlon xp 2000+ there's no way to tell).
Anyway KDE 3.x looks at its best and has quite a few options and (mean streak) in 3 years it might reach the useability of windows '95.
Really, I do see why a Linux user would like to have KDE as a GUI ,but once there, a more efficient desktop organisation , easy and obvious access to IMPORTANT controls (such as monitor frequency control , desktop analysis ...) should definately be considered.

WRFan reviewed v3.1 RC6 on Jan 10, 2003

best gui for linux, but still slow like hell compared to windows explorer. it takes 5 sec. to open a window. konqueror is still slow. the editor has been improved, but is still a sad joke compared to editplus 2 on windows. they really have to integrate the gui better inside linux, otherwise it sits on top, instead of inside. just look at windows explorer - it's integrated into windows, therefore it's very fast.

improvelence reviewed v3.1 RC6 on Jan 9, 2003

thats supossed to say pentium 3 450 i dont know what the hell i was thinking when i wrote "pentium for"? Must be the drugs.

netean reviewed v3.1 RC6 on Jan 9, 2003

looks nice, has some nice apps for it.

But 2 problems with KDE (in general)

SO slooooowww, it'a like watching paint dry.

It's still just a window manager that works on top of the system rather than working with the system...

i.e. installing an app doesn't put it in the program listings

(ok it's not particularly a fault of KDE but all *nix window managers in general) but it's still crap

Having said that KDE is the best WM of them all.

trapanator reviewed v3.1 RC6 on Jan 9, 2003

The best desktop environment. Slighty better than slow and bloated Windows XP!

kNIGitz reviewed v3.1 Release Candidate 5 on Dec 9, 2002

In my opinion, KDE is poorly designed. No offense to the creators, but Windows XP GUI is far more superior. I'm not trying to start a Windows/Linux war here on betanews, (Linux is alright in my book, if you have the time and the patience). Any Linux Window Enviroment is complicated and bloated, Windows is much more simple and precise.

But you guys are going in the right direction.

mrp- reviewed v3.1 Release Candidate 5 on Dec 9, 2002

sugardaddy, yeah, and luna on windows xp looks professional? KDE looks more professional than that blue and red preschool GUI xp has. (im just commenting on UI, not os preference, i myself use xp, classic mode of course.)

sugardaddy reviewed v3.1 Release Candidate 2 on Nov 9, 2002

wooow! this more and more looks like a kiddy paint software
with all those colors..
they must be kiddin' to expect serious people to be klicking around in this pop-art bulls***.

errderr reviewed v3.1 Alpha 1 on Jul 12, 2002

Btw, the screenshot above is /not/ 3.1 Alpha 1. That's an old screenshot. You can find some at http://static.kdenews.or...rrors/qwertz/kde31alpha/

HoLy_SpRt reviewed v3.1 Alpha 1 on Jul 12, 2002

Duh.... solid41..... did it not say "Alpha 1" duh.... I believe that means it's pre-beta which means "Alpha". Some people.

aeroe reviewed v3.0.2 on Jul 4, 2002

It's decent enough to be used along as you don't use Mandrake's rpms. I can't believe they could mess them up even further. There's a couple fixable bugs like removing the kpersonalizer wizard at the startup. Other than that, it didn't seem any faster, or use less resources than v2.2.2.

solid45 reviewed v3.0 on Apr 6, 2002

Unstable, slow, doesn't add anything new of value, and did I mention, unstable. It runs the 'first-time wizard every time I log in because it crashed before it can save my prefs. I can't run the desktop configuration tool, it just crashes. And this is the final version. Seems like a beta, or even an alpha. guess I have to wait for Ximian Gnome for Mandrake 8.2.