MX Linux Forum

As Mepis 8.5 with KDE 4 has been with us long enough for most of us to have given it a good work out, I thought it might be interesting to find out if people are happy with it or not.

I am very happy with MEPIS 8.5 and KDE 4.4. I was skeptical when KDE4 was first released. In fact I disliked it. As more releases came out I became a convert. And Warren has done a great job integrating KDE4 with stable Debian, not an easy task. I am looking forward with great anticipation to Mepis 10.

richb wrote:I am very happy with MEPIS 8.5 and KDE 4.4. I was skeptical when KDE4 was first released. In fact I disliked it. As more releases came out I became a convert. And Warren has done a great job integrating KDE4 with stable Debian, not an easy task. I am looking forward with great anticipation to Mepis 10.

+1

I'm not sure I would have liked the standard KDE4 found in other distros. Warren did a masterful job with his implementation, and I'm completely satisfied with the results. I find I can do more with KDE4 than with KDE3, although there is a slight learning curve.

Warren did an excellent job of packaging KDE 4.3 in M8.5. But there is so much someone outside of the KDE devs can do. There are still some basic issues I still have. I've even given 4.4 a run in and many of the issues I have had have not been addressed even when they were reported to have been.

IF I upgrade it WILL be to M10. I have decided I'm not going back to Debian for the foreseeable future. I'm not liking the base Squeeze install and unstable isn't looking much better. And much of it has to do with KDE. But there are other reasons too.

I put down "Undecided" even though I use it as my main desktop. I'll "like" it when I can get Bluetooth working. Bluetooth works fine in my 8.0.15 install.

richb wrote:I am very happy with MEPIS 8.5 and KDE 4.4. I was skeptical when KDE4 was first released. In fact I disliked it. As more releases came out I became a convert. And Warren has done a great job integrating KDE4 with stable Debian, not an easy task. I am looking forward with great anticipation to Mepis 10.

Pretty much the way I feel now as well. Well said Richard.

Mepis 8.5.x shows the future.

I'm happy with Mepis 8.5, not so much with KDE 4.3. While it may not be beta or even alpha quality any longer like 4.0 was, it is still not without it's problems. Warren has done a masterful job of getting it working as best as it can though.
I've been using it almost daily on my notebook for several weeks now. Just as soon as I have the time to rearrange hard drives in my desktop, I'll install it on there as well.

Al

I think warren has done a bang up job, and also Danum with his amazing KDE4 remastered unofficial releases...

Danum's KDE4 knowledge, and assistance on this forum has been undeniable valuable to the community... Three cheers for him!!!

KDE4 is the future, but I was happy Warren included the older style menu function to assist early adopters. Guess it is not only me, I have read that favorable comments about his release on other forums...

I use Mepis 8, because I can not get any work done in the newer version... I will change eventually, or use another GIU on Mepis, (Maybe switching to all AntiX household) but I know time marches along, and things do not stay the same...

I have never been skeptical of KDE4, I just do not like the eye candy changes that seem hinder my progress, some of it just feels change for change sake rather than well thought out current improvements (future improvements with the new underlying code I can not comment about, other can and are capable of providing good information)...

Nought said I am still using Mepis 8.0.15 fully updated...

JR
* * *
64-bit version of Mepis 8, and a very quick AntiX

I find KDE4 in its regular default desktop and menu system to be nothing short of absolutely awful and exceedingly time consuming, so Warrens decision to set the default to a saner and more usable folder view Desktop and a decent menu makes it shine like no other KDE4 based distro I have ever seen.

By and large, I am very satisfied with KDE4, at least for that which works as it should, but there are too many omissions that have not yet been addressed that IMHO require urgent attention and remedial action.

I answered yes because I like it alot, at least the way it is provided with Mepis.

Mike P

I answered yes, but will stick to 8.0 & KDE3 until I understand my way around 4 better. I don't learn as fast as I used to.

Check release numbers. 8.5 does not ship with 4.4KDE, it's
4.3 with 8000+ bugs. If you push it a little it breaks. OK
if you are happy with what is shipped, but don't try and
configure it.

beckwith wrote:Check release numbers. 8.5 does not ship with 4.4KDE, it's
4.3 with 8000+ bugs. If you push it a little it breaks. OK
if you are happy with what is shipped, but don't try and
configure it.

????????? Push it how? It runs everything I need, why must one push it? Configures OK for me.

I'm fairly new but I like KDE 4 so far. Glad you did't go with the new scrolling/rolling menu!

mikeg

beckwith wrote:Check release numbers. 8.5 does not ship with 4.4KDE, it's
4.3 with 8000+ bugs. If you push it a little it breaks. OK
if you are happy with what is shipped, but don't try and
configure it.

And how many bugs are outstanding in 3.5, I will let you check
99% of which will never be fixed.
And for the record there are no bugs in debian 4.3 anymore,
because 4.3 it is not in the debian repo's, long gone.
As for breaking if you insist on using it as you would 3.5 it will. that is why it is called 4.3

beckwith wrote:Check release numbers. 8.5 does not ship with 4.4KDE, it's
4.3 with 8000+ bugs. If you push it a little it breaks. OK
if you are happy with what is shipped, but don't try and
configure it.

I've only found 2 or 3 bugs, which I easily worked around. Of course, I tend not to "push things" beyond their design limits. This policy applies to appliances, cars, and desktop environments.

I must admit that I haven't used KDE 4.* very much, but I don't think I could name 8,000 features, much less 8,000 bugs.

Yo, Ace!
You know I can't resist a poll!
I'm on record as being a guy who seriously discussed making antiX his main distro rather than go KDE4. Anybody who doesn't know that already, please be aware.

Danum, was the guy who spun me right 'round with his Canteras releases. Then Warren Woodford put his hand on my shoulder and stopped me from spinning any further than 180 degrees.

Prior to 4.3, the new KDE was "not ready for prime time" IMO. Yes, and 4.3 needs a little loving care to be the kind of girl (guy) you want to take home to meet Mom.
Know that Danum & WW are master headmasters in the KDE Charm School.

Configurable? Here's my MSI portable's version of Mepis 8.5, which has been continuously updated since it was installed from the Alpha release LiveCD.

Item 1 was that with a 1366x768 widescreen format, I needed vertical space. So the "panel" plasmoid went further left than anticapitalista. (No dig intended, anti! You know yer "my man!" I just can't resist hamming up a forum post.) Then I installed and configured Conky, since I consider that utility "a must" on a laptop.

Point is, Mepis 8.5 with KDE4.3 lets me do this:


Got my wireless working with no sweat, got Quanta installed with a little pinning of packages, doing the MC repo version of GIMP for grafix, getting (slowly!) some work done today revising mepis.org, all on "my" Mep 8.5 on this machine. . .

I'm not denying that somebody might be having problems with KDE4.3 or Mepis 8.5.
But it ain't this Bear.

richb wrote:I am very happy with MEPIS 8.5 and KDE 4.4. I was skeptical when KDE4 was first released. In fact I disliked it. As more releases came out I became a convert. And Warren has done a great job integrating KDE4 with stable Debian, not an easy task. I am looking forward with great anticipation to Mepis 10.

I was not quite as reluctant as Rich; I got an earlier start, though not quite as early as Danum. On some non-Debian systems, I got a REALLY early look at KDE 4.0, and it was poor enough not to consider very seriously. When KDE 4.1 came out, it was more functional, enough to use for some stuff. I used it on and off with Kubuntu, but stuck to legacy KDE.

When KDE 4.2.2 became available in Debian Sid, I gave it a whirl. For the most part it was good, but I did find and report some defects, which I am happy to say were fixed by KDE 4.2.4, also in Debian Sid. By that time, I was a regular KDE user in Debian Sid, plus I used some of the really good KDE 4.2 respins provided by Danum.

So by the time we got KDE 4 in SimplyMEPIS, I was looking forward to it and I can say that it is one of the smoothest, unobtrusive KDE implementations I've used, so it gets my endorsement.

Yes, cause 4.4 is much better than crappier attempt that 4.0 was and Warren got KDE 4 right with default sane desktop settings.

SilverBear wrote: Danum, was the guy who spun me right 'round with his Canteras releases. Then Warren Woodford put his hand on my shoulder and stopped me from spinning any further than 180 degrees.
...

Item 1 was that with a 1366x768 widescreen format, I needed vertical space. ... Then I installed and configured Conky, since I consider that utility "a must" on a laptop.

Point is, Mepis 8.5 with KDE4.3 lets me do this:

I like your desktop image; nice use of Conky, and nice utilization off to the right of the desktop with icons.

I am highly satisfied with simplymepis 8.5 and kde 4, i look forward to mepis 10 and kde 4.4
many thanks to all involved with mepis,i hope mepis becomes the no. 1 linux distro.

I still prefer 8.015, kde 3.5x. Why? For now it offers more choices and features, takes fewer resources, less memory, better speed as a gui, doesn't hang up the mouse, stable I'd say.
Mepis 8.5 is workable, not like other kde4.xx variants I've tried and still am trying to use (gotta give things a chance). I too am looking forward to the future; got memories of what any Linux distro was capable of offering only 10 years ago.
But not for the sake of the eye-candy.

EDIT
Please note that I was responding to the Poll question "Happy with KDE 4 or not?"
Kindly note my second post in this thread.

drg wrote:I still prefer 8.015, kde 3.5x. Why? For now it offers more choices and features, takes fewer resources, less memory, better speed as a gui, doesn't hang up the mouse, stable I'd say.

I am not questioning your experience, but mine is the opposite on all points re choices and features, resources, memory, and speed. No mouse issues and very stable.

I've been using M8.5 for a couple of weeks on my test box, and am happy enough using it without any major issues, just a couple of minor annoyances, not a deal breaker though. The only reason my main box is still running M8 is that I'm basically lazy, and couldn't be bothered changing, it's also currently broken (laziness also affects the repair). I reckon by the time M10/11 comes out, I might be ready to give that a go on the main box, laziness permitting

Am I happy with M8.5 KDE4? No, not really.
I prefer KDE3.5 and I do not see any advantage in using KDE4.x; not feature-wise and not speed-wise.
I think Konqueror still beats Dolphin by a wide margin, like 4-1
[which reminds me: On June 11 next the World Soccer Championship Tournament starts. I may not be around a lot for a month....:-) ]

Last week I went down Memory Lane and installed 2 golden oldie distros; one with KDE3.3.2 and one with KDE 3.4.1.
Both were amazingly fast -- a lot faster than current KDE3.5 or KDE4.x -- on my 1 GB RAM testsystem.
I feel that KDE has turned into bloatware over the last 4-5 years.

Since any KDE version prior to KDE4.x will wither and die before long, I also installed one brand new alternative: Peppermint One (with Openbox).
It is real nice, and fast; faster than the aforementioned 'golden oldies with KDE3.x'...
The jury is still out, but I may decide to go that way.
Either that or another alternative like antiX-base.

Ko

I have been using KDE4 since Danum's first remaster. Last night I upgraded to 4.4.4 Works like a charm on my laptop.

I appreciate all of the responses in this thread. I decided earlier to hold off on 8.5 and wait for Mepis 10 (or whatever it will be called). I figure that I'll get along okay with KDE 4 but some of the comments here make me happy that I've waited. In any case, I'm likely to install Xfce anyway -- currently using Xfce in Mepis 8, and loving it!

I've voted undecided as my systems that I've got 8.5 on can't really cope with KDE4 too well so I mainly use LXDE on them. I haven't yet migrated my main machine that would, no doubt, give KDE4 a fair chance to impress.

I've been forced to upgrade to get needed features from one critical program. My new name for KDE4 is: The KDE "Vista Edition", given it's similarities to that other infamous computing tool. They have so much in common it's amazing:

• All flash, no substance
• Bloatware
• Instability
• Very high hardware requirements to run well
• Security features that infuriate end-users

It's really astounding!
As soon as LXDE gets the right-click features running, I'm gone.

I prefer KDE4 to KDE 3.5. A lot. Why?:

1. It is technically a sound platform, nothing like the spaghetti code that made up KDE 3.5. Look at the rapid developments in KDE4 as opposed to KDE3. That is only possible because of a clean code base.

2. It runs on the same hardware as KDE 3.5, and it makes better use of more powerful graphics hardware (compositing, desktop effects). Again: with the regular settings, KDE4 is JUST AS FAST as KDE 3.5.

3. It NEVER crashes on me. EVER.

4. KDE4 has a lot better features. Better powermanagement. in 4.4 dual monitor support is excellent using a newer Xorg. Much better sound management. Hot plugging of USB sound devices is great.

5. The widgets allow me to tweak my desktop a lot better than KDE 3.5. E.g. I can easily change the menu to Lancelot.

6. Notification system is the best I've seen.

I may be one of the few around here who has never even SEEN KDE 4. My desktop is still running SM 7 flawlessly and does everything I throw at it. My only wish is that WINE would work better for the two or three Windows programs I occasionally use.

My laptop is happily running SM 8 and is quite snappy.

Perhaps I should install SM 8.5 on a spare partition and play around a little to see what all the fuss is about.

Pastor Ron wrote:I may be one of the few around here who has never even SEEN KDE 4. My desktop is still running SM 7 flawlessly and does everything I throw at it. My only wish is that WINE would work better for the two or three Windows programs I occasionally use.

My laptop is happily running SM 8 and is quite snappy.

Perhaps I should install SM 8.5 on a spare partition and play around a little to see what all the fuss is about.

Sure give it a try. You may or may not like it, but worth looking at.

PS. (I like it very much.

As much as I still like KDE 3.5x, I prefer and run KDE 4 most of the time. There still a little glitch or two that occurs occasionally (like KDE Screensavers), but nothing too serious. I did a clean install of Mepis 8.5 a little while back. The first time was a disaster. It must have been something I did wrong, because I tried it again the next day, and it was the easiest and cleanest I ever attempted.

I am very impressed with KDE 4.3. Dolphin, Konsole splits, the dark Air wallpaper and even the Lancelot menu are some examples.

re my post on 6-3-10:

I was answering the Poll question "Happy with KDE 4 or not?.


As of that date, my opinion was based on experiences with the releases I tried during 2008 and into 2010: three kubuntu's, three sidux's, one pureOS-2010-en, Fedora 10, Mandriva-One-2009 Spring, and Mepis of course. I was using several machines, all x86 types, 32 bit; PIII, P4, Athlon; 1.1 to 1.7 GHz; 384 to 512 M ram. Mepis 8.0x with KDE 3.5.x shined on all of them. The various KDE 4.x versions showed a variety of, ahem, deficiencies in my opinion, except Mepis 8.5x.




richb, your response to me seems to be based on Mepis 8.5x, and not on KDE 4 generically, is that so?


If so, I guess there is a misunderstanding here.


But I still prefer Mepis 8.015, for now. Why? It does take up less ram. It does have features and choices that I like and KDE 4.x does not provide for now (or I cannot find).
On the other hand, Mepis 8.5x does offer other features and choices, and chances are high that KDE 3.5.x ain't never gonna get them. And I’m certainly glad to read others experiences, very encouraging.

drg,

Well yes and no. They are based on the KDE 4.3.4 implemented in Mepis 8.5, but the features are standard KDE 4 features that I was referring to and not the added Mepis tools which are completely different.

Of course separating the feel of Mepis and KDE 4 is as it is so well integrated is not easy. The impressions will overlap. Hope that makes sense.

I love kde 4 just for all the new packages. K3b is one example....it's more advanced looking and feeling than any previous version...as all the new package versions look now

Edit.....
I wrote this post in july...it's now october and i have decided that kde4 is slower than kde3, unstable compared to kde3, digikam and dolphin are both superslow at downloading pictures from my camera ( and I mean glacially slow, the batteries will dies before you get a dozen pictures downloaded. Like 3-5 minutes per picture maybe more) I would like to change my vote to NO as I like kde3 a lot better

mepnoob2005 wrote:I love kde 4 just for all the new packages. K3b is one example....it's more advanced looking and feeling than any previous version...as all the new package versions look now

Good point, that I do not believe has been mentioned here before.

mepnoob2005 wrote:I love kde 4 just for all the new packages. K3b is one example....it's more advanced looking and feeling than any previous version...as all the new package versions look now

I would expect that the majority on Linux users, myself included, were perhaps more concerned with functionality however.

Chris

chrispop99 wrote:I would expect that the majority on Linux users, myself included, were perhaps more concerned with functionality however.

Chris

And that is there as well in KDE4. But one cannot discount ease of use and user experience.

mepnoob2005 wrote:I love kde 4 just for all the new packages. K3b is one example....it's more advanced looking and feeling than any previous version...as all the new package versions look now

Dolphin is the "killer app" for KDE 4.x IMO. It's far superior to Konqueror (as a file manager) in so many ways. I didn't like Dolphin the first time I used it, but it only took about 5 minutes to convince me.

joany wrote:Dolphin is the "killer app" for KDE 4.x IMO. It's far superior to Konqueror (as a file manager) in so many ways. I didn't like Dolphin the first time I used it, but it only took about 5 minutes to convince me.

With Dolphin, can you open up multiple split views, or just two?

malspa wrote:With Dolphin, can you open up multiple split views, or just two?

Just two AFAIK.

One feature I really like is having dockable panels for places, information, folders and a terminal. The terminal can be set to appear automatically when Dolphin is launched, and it changes directories automatically as you navigate with the mouse.

Here's a screen shot with all the features enabled.

joany wrote:Here's a screen shot with all the features enabled.

I can't see things very well in that screen shot. Enlarging it just makes things blurry.

malspa wrote:I can't see things very well in that screen shot. Enlarging it just makes things blurry.

Try entering "http://dolphin.kde.org/images/all_features.png" without the quotes in the address block.

if there was an image plugin for Dolphin that worked as well as the Gwenview Plugin did for Konqueror, I'd be a happy camper.....

Roadblock wrote:if there was an image plugin for Dolphin that worked as well as the Gwenview Plugin did for Konqueror, I'd be a happy camper.....

On my computer, Dolphin shows thumbnails for all jpeg files, and I believe for other image files as well. When I float the mouse cursor over the icons for one of those image files, a larger thumbnail appears in the pop-up and an image shows in the Information Panel as well.

See the attached image. Is that what you're referring to?

No, it was Konqueror's ability (via the gwenview plugin) to open the entire folder showing all the images to the left, with a bigger single image view to the right. I don't have a screenie, I wrote over my M8 partition set the other day with M8.5 32bit.

Thanks for the help though, I appreciate the effort.

Well, thanks to joany's question, I have discovered I can actually get the same effect using the "information" setting (F11) in Dolphin. It's not as simple as the gwenview plugin was for konqueror, but it is the closest I've come across yet. KDE 4 is quite tweakable, sometimes you just have to dig a little and experiment.

Thanks joany for making me get up off my duff and learn something! (lol)

Yes, I should have mentioned that you can increase the size of the Information Panel by dragging its border to the left, and the size of the "thumbnail" will grow right along with it. There are very few things you can do in KDE 3.5 that cannot be done in KDE 4.3.

Just took a little time to adjust.

Still running 8.0 on my desktop, but I've had 8.5 on the Aspire One for a while now, and I prefer the few changes I've spotted.

Phil

My ambivalence towaqrd KDE4 is epic. It makes a complete fool out of me. I'm pretty sure you can find me somewhere on the web expressing every possible opinion about KDE4, positive and negative. The bottom line is that KDE4 is the most powerful and flexible Destop environment I know, but the most EFFICIENT DEsktop I know is what I get when I integrate KDE3 into fluxbox. KDE4 doesn't work as well for me.

So I'm happy to have KDE4, unhappy about losing KDE3. Thank heaven for the trinity project, which is presenting us with a shot at a middle way.

SilverBear wrote:Item 1 was that with a 1366x768 widescreen format, I needed vertical space. So the "panel" plasmoid went further left than anticapitalista. (No dig intended, anti! You know yer "my man!" I just can't resist hamming up a forum post.)

That gve me a chuckle on a Wed morning. thanks SB

No...some things still do not work. And this isn't a 3.5.10 versus 4.4 rant. In theory I like KDE 4 better, if it worked 100%. But there are things that don't work. Like Krfb/KRDC....these are KDE apps, and they don't work with compositing enabled. Huh? They couldn't figure this out and perhaps prompt me to torun off compositing to use these apps? Nope, they leave the user to figure it out on their own. Perhaps a bug? There are a few other apps that don't work so well with KDE 4- had problems getting skype to work, and it worked fine with KDE 3.5.10, same for Crossover office. Like the concept of KDE 4 but it seems like it is not fully baked yet.

@Louie1961

Just curious, what issues are you having with Crossover on KDE4? I haven't had any problems.

When I install crossover, the menu entries it creates don't "do" anything. see the attached for the fix I found I have to do.

http://mepislovers.org/forums/showthrea ... =crossover

Yep, i am happy... Works fine !
Fredo

Do not want. Either it ain't there yet, or I'm not where it's at yet.

Over a decade ago, I installed KDE1.0 on a Red Hat Linux 5.2 system. I was delighted with how much easier it was to work with than fvwm95. Of course, most of what it allowed me to control was Konsole xterms, but much of what I do on a computer involves jstar, mc and ytree in an xterm. KDE1.1 on a RHL 6.2 box was an improved version of the same setup: buttons and icons down below, desktops-pager among them, with a separate taskbar up above so I was one click away from whatever window I wanted next no matter how deep in its desktop page it was.

KDE3.x, in MEPIS3.3, MEPISlite, MEPIS6.5, MEPIS7 and MEPIS8, allows for the taskbar functionality to be split out of the bottom bar and put up top where I want it, which is good because by now that kind of layout is as ingrained in my work habits as the WordStar control-codes (I'm left-handed and I started computing with CP/M, whaddaya expect -- which is why jstar is the editor for me). With KDE on MEPIS, I've had the continuity of function which I need.

KDE4, though... Maybe I didn't search around enough. Most of what Warren put together for MEPIS8.5 was familiar-like-home and that's great, but my taskbar was missing and I couldn't figure out a way to bring it back. Its substitute is like a trash-compactor where I wanted a shelf. Am I missing something here -- is this covered in a HOWTO somewhere, how to get "real external taskbar" functionality? Absent that, we'll be giving KDE4 a pass.

By taskbar do you mean Task Manager? If so add another panel at the top of the screen, right click on it, add widgets, add the task Manager widget. You need to delete it from the bottom panel, if you do not want it there.

In general I have not found much of anything that could not be done with KDE4 that I did with KDE3, just needs to be done differently.

Actually, I'd like to see a new poll, since I can't change my vote in the previous one.

I couldn't vote in the poll because I stayed with Mepis 8. I still have it installed.

I also have KDE 4.5.2 in Linux Mint and PCLinuxOS.

I really thought that I wouldn't like KDE4, and I was planning to use Xfce in Mepis 11. But in almost no time at all, once I started using it in Mint and PCLOS, I fell in love with KDE4.

I still log into Mepis 8 quite often -- at least once or twice a week.

But, if the old KDE and KDE4 were both offered as options, I would definitely go with KDE4, at this point. No question about it.

I keep M8.0.x around but most of the time am in KDE 4.3.x nowadays. I wasn't the first kid up the block though. Took awhile before I was comfortable.

Yes I am happy with 8.5 kde4. But only AFTER getting my new system.

The previous one 2.67Ghz and 1Gig worth of ram wasn't strong enough to deal proper with things like Dolphins previews that load when you even hovered over files.

That is a pet peeve of mine.. mepis is getting too heavy now to use on older computers.


In any case, my point is: linux needs to stop following windows in that aspect.



And no, installing older mepis versions isn't going to do much good. I tried going back to 8.0 and failed on installing certain things. Dependency issues or whatever, I did not want to deal with that.

Only choice is for another DE. Because it seems that Gnome is going the same way. You can't have both a full-featured DE and a light one. Though some of the light ones are exceptionally usable.

Eadwine Rose wrote: The previous one 2.67Ghz and 1Gig worth of ram wasn't strong enough to deal proper with things like Dolphins previews that load when you even hovered over files.

That is easily switched off. KDE4 can run really light. You can tweak the living daylights out of it if you wish. Heck, you can even resort to a netbook interface. So I don't believe that KDE4 runs worse than KDE3. In fact, I run it on a netbook and an old laptop, and it runs fine.

I know it is easily switched off and I found how to after a lot of irritation. Fact is: I hate having to pick and pry to make things run faster. I have the new to linux user in mind, who wants a system that runs, not one that crawls on a still decent machine in my eyes

Yes, very happy.
On the 2 computers i have no problems. I am not much on the Forum, helping the daughter in her new house, must by done before december...
The Mac i dont use anymore, can not run Mepis on it because the screenresolution, i have done what i can to find and configure 1680x 1050, but no results. " Have tried other distros on it, and its not like Mepis, PCLinuxOS was best "
For the moment i want see this machine in years !
For the rest... OK
Greetings to all,
Fredo.

I wrote my first post in this thread in july...back then I gave it a thumbs up ....
it's now october and I have decided that kde4 is slower than kde3, unstable compared to kde3, digikam and dolphin are both superslow at downloading pictures from my camera ( and I mean glacially slow, the batteries will dies before you get a dozen pictures downloaded. Like 3-5 minutes per picture maybe more) I would like to change my vote to NO as I like kde3 a lot better....
so thumbs down on kde4 in a lot of areas, speed and stability mostly....boot time is slower...but on the other hand I want to keep kde4 even tho it is the slower and less reliable of the two versions only because I think maybe one day it will be as good as kde3. It (kde4) is definately nowhere near as good as kde3....just saying what a lot of us must be thinking to kde4

my latest computer....
msi KA790GX board, athlon 7750 x2 64 bit cpu, 4 gb ddr3 1066 ram, ati onboard hdmi graphics with sgfxi installed driver, in a coolermaster case, 42 inch lcd hd tv for monitor....it rocks! great with kde3 but barely acceptable with kde4 and it won't download my pics properly....

I still miss simple features, like right-clicking on Kmenu items and editing them, not possible in KDE4 (that's what I call "gnomification" of KDE, removing features)

I still don't use KDE4 features, it looks like the guys worked a lot on plasmoids, except for the default ones (kicker replacement) I don't use plasmoids, also I don't use "activities".

But yes, I like how KDE4 looks, I cringe at the idea of still using KDE3.5.

Adrian wrote:I still miss simple features, like right-clicking on Kmenu items and editing them, not possible in KDE4 (that's what I call "gnomification" of KDE, removing features)

Could you be more specific? I mean.. I can go into the kmenu and can edit away when I left click an item.

Eadwine Rose wrote:Could you be more specific? I mean.. I can go into the kmenu and can edit away when I left click an item.

I'm not sure I understand, when I left click it launches that item, when I right click I get "Add to favorites", "add to Desktop", "add to panel", in KDE3 there's an properties or edit menu item where you can edit the item, in KDE4 you need to go through "Menu Editor". Again, not a big deal, I can go through Menu Editor path, but I found the KDE3.5 more logical and userfriendly, just right-clicking on a item it allowed you to edit it.

mepnoob2005 wrote:I wrote my first post in this thread in july...back then I gave it a thumbs up ....
it's now october and I have decided that kde4 is slower than kde3, unstable compared to kde3, digikam and dolphin are both superslow at downloading pictures from my camera ( and I mean glacially slow, the batteries will dies before you get a dozen pictures downloaded. Like 3-5 minutes per picture maybe more) I would like to change my vote to NO as I like kde3 a lot better....
so thumbs down on kde4 in a lot of areas, speed and stability mostly....boot time is slower...but on the other hand I want to keep kde4 even tho it is the slower and less reliable of the two versions only because I think maybe one day it will be as good as kde3. It (kde4) is definately nowhere near as good as kde3....just saying what a lot of us must be thinking to kde4

my latest computer....
msi KA790GX board, athlon 7750 x2 64 bit cpu, 4 gb ddr3 1066 ram, ati onboard hdmi graphics with sgfxi installed driver, in a coolermaster case, 42 inch lcd hd tv for monitor....it rocks! great with kde3 but barely acceptable with kde4 and it won't download my pics properly....

I do not have these issues. But I do not download pictures from a camera. Boot is just as fast or faster, and reliability is on a par with 3.5.

No contest for me that KDE 4.5 is the better choice than KDE 3.5. Notice I did not say better, but the better choice for me.

Kerry

I just posted in reply to the other thread on digikam, and I'll reiterate here. It seems you are the only one experiencing the issues you raised. KDE4 is not perfect, but I'd rate it on par, if not better now, than KDE3.

I download photos direct by USB cable from the camera (Kodak) using digikam, and we get none of your slowdown.

As far as speed goes - I see no difference on my set-up.

And my netbook currently runs 4.5 (pure sid) and is very snappy.

Are you sure your issues are not hardware related?

I don't use DigiCam to download photographs either. There have been reported problems with DigiCam. And I have none with Dolphin.

@Adrian: It does take an extra click or two to edit a menu item in KDE 4.x. If I needed to, I'd right-click Start and choose Edit Menu. I agree that the old way was very convenient. I have hopes that this will just be a little later coming.

Adrian wrote:I'm not sure I understand, when I left click it launches that item, when I right click I get "Add to favorites", "add to Desktop", "add to panel", in KDE3 there's an properties or edit menu item where you can edit the item, in KDE4 you need to go through "Menu Editor". Again, not a big deal, I can go through Menu Editor path, but I found the KDE3.5 more logical and userfriendly, just right-clicking on a item it allowed you to edit it.

I meant indeed through the menu editor yes.

I didn't even know you could edit any other way

I was completely against kde4.x and hated dolphin compared to konqueror but time and improvements proved my resistance was futile, I am now fully assimilated and very optimistic about it's future development. Jerry

JBoman wrote:I was completely against kde4.x and hated dolphin compared to konqueror but time and improvements proved my resistance was futile, I am now fully assimilated and very optimistic about it's future development. Jerry

I'll second that.

Eadwine Rose wrote:I know it is easily switched off and I found how to after a lot of irritation. Fact is: I hate having to pick and pry to make things run faster. I have the new to linux user in mind, who wants a system that runs, not one that crawls on a still decent machine in my eyes

+1@ Eadwine. My system is slower too. My biggest gripe has been the lack of documentation. I really love you guys that help me out, but with KDE3 I could find a lot of things in the wiki or help files. Most of what I find now is still KDE 3 oriented, so all this mega configurable stuff is lost on someone like me. It's just not so intuitive any more-
Still in all, it is better than the KDE4 in other Linux OS's I have tried like Kubuntu.

The User Manual icon is on the Desktop. Look there first, then the Wiki.

One of my biggest ( unresolved ) issues has been printing.
I would really like to see some KDE4 specific help files for printing under KDE4 in either place.

Wiki refers to 3 stuff and the help file says "Assume everything is pre-configured, how to set up a printer, refer to big manual if there is trouble"..that is CH. 11 no kidding. And the next section Printing From an Application is blank. No matter, the KDE user guide on my desktop is revision 2004-06-16 ,copyrighted 2005
Nothing tells you not to look for something that is no longer there, like Kprint.

Maybe a guide that explains the differences and changes from 3 to 4.

Still can't figure out the Alt F2 thing

KDE3, what's that?

I did not like KDE 4 from the start and no change (even Warren's) have modified this since. I won't use KDE 4, period. And if Mepis becomes a "KDE 4 only" distribution (as far as this has a meaning with Linux) I won't follow.

I've changed for Ubuntu + Trinity and am testing Debian + Trinity at the time, I'd love a Mepis + Trinity.

Thierry

Well.. I have been using it for a while. I like it. It does what I need to do and it does so without complaining, so.. I am a happy camper with this.

I have to agree completely with Bigboppercole. I think what warren has done has been excellent how he got 8.5 together. Getting KDE 4 with Debian Lenny was what I was doing with backports. But I am a long-standing KDE3.5 holdout. I don't like the issues that 4 has. Also many programs that were standard with 3.5 are now gone or have been hacked to uselessness. Examples? Kaffeine. (or dvd playing in general) Dragon player just doesn't work right for me. Kaffeine was excellent and integrated great with firefox for streaming audio. The simple cd player KSCD is an archaic 14 steps back in usability. Many of my mind petrifying diversions (games) are no longer. System settings are no longer as simple to access, though Warren's changes improved that somewhat (especially printer configs). And no matter what KDE4 fanboys say, there is a SIGNIFICANT drop in performance from 3.5. And example for me. Install a base Debian Lenny with KDE 3.5 (which I have running now on the big box....again) I can get 3100 fps with my radeon 9800pro. Now with Mepis 8.5 (which is basically a slightly modified Debian Lenny with KDE 4 loaded) and I get 2850 fps. Now in general this isn't noticeable even when playing something like Chromium (the game not the browser or desktop) butit is there.

Granted Kopete works again, but that's more a matter of getting around Yahoo's format change that any real changes to the program.

For myself I am happy with my good old Debian Lenny install. I do have Mepis 8.0 on my Thinkpad. It's older and the soundcard driver is removed from Debian. So it will stay with 8.0 until it dies. But the big box will stay with Debian Lenny for now also. Now when Mepis11 makes it to at least Beta 2 I might give it a test to see how warren has cleaned it up. If it is usable for me I MIGHT consider putting it on my big box. But having gone from Squeeze to Mepis 8.5 to PCLinuxOS back to Lenny, it'll take a major improvement in usability for me to go to a KDE 4-based distro again. I mean if this doesn't meet my needs I might just simply chunk it and wait for KDE 5. I have even tried the Trinity Desktop with sour results (Going to retest that again this weekend)

As many of you know, I have not been a fan of the progress(?) that KDE 4 has made. My feeling has been that it was rushed out, and declared ready before it ever was. I also feel that too much emphasis was placed on spinning cubes, wobbly windows, etc., and not enough on pure functionality. I also feel that many features were changed, added or dropped that didn't have to be. It has seemed to me that they made changes just for the sake of making changes. Re-inventing the wheel, as it were, has slowed progress and acceptance unnecessarily.

All that said, I realize that KDE 4 is the future, good, bad or indifferent. There are many features of KDE 4 that I really like and am growing used to. With all my criticisms, fair or unfair, one thing I have always maintained was that the KDE 4 developers would eventually get it right. I just hope that they do that soon and stop making the major changes. You could fill libraries with what I don't know about developing software as complicated as KDE 4, I have great respect for the amount of work that it takes and am grateful for all the efforts that have been made. I look forward to future development.

cage47 wrote:Also many programs that were standard with 3.5 are now gone or have been hacked to uselessness. Examples? Kaffeine.

As they say, "YMMV." Kaffeine plays DVDs very well on my M8.5.

I'm not a FanBoy of any DE. I use Mepis. Mepis uses KDE. KDE uses 4.x. So guess what. I use KDE 4.

I should point out that I started with KDE and have used Gnome, LXDE, FluxBox, ICEWM. Probably others that weren't used very much. Of the non-KDE desktops I prefer the choices antiX provides. Mainly because of familiarity.
The first time I used Gnome I couldn't understand how anyone would want to use a mis-begotten DE like that. Eventually I learned my way around a Gnome DE. But it was a real learning experience and I never liked not being able to do some things easily or at all (as far as I know at least).

Just for the record I have had real problems with the switch to KDE 4. But you don't build the Pyramids or Rome in a day. It's totally unreasonable to expect KDE to move to a structured, maintainable code base in time to make everyone happy.
I keep an installation of Mepis 8.0.x up to date and I can tell you that on the same equipment KDE 4 as provided by Mepis 11 is way faster than M8 is. Even M8.5.x is a little faster. Of course neither will beat the default antiX 8.2 that I run on my Atom-based Netbook or on my desktop computer.
I agree that KDE 4 did some stupid things with the interface. The tree hierarchy used in KDE 3 and its Control Center was a great interface. I really despise the necessity of moving my cursor to the top left of System Settings (in KDE 4) to get back to the main System settings page. I will not mention the main menu system...I just get angry. Fortunately Mepis and KDE give an optional menu.

You should remember that the version of KDE that's in Lenny is actually finished and tested. Everything else is being tested and is therefore in varying degrees of being finished.

I use Kaffeine on my sidux installation for DVD play. I can't comment on other uses. I don't stream video off the Net because of speed issues. My connection just is not fast enough to be usable for that.

lucky9 wrote:I keep an installation of Mepis 8.0.x up to date and I can tell you that on the same equipment KDE 4 as provided by Mepis 11 is way faster than M8 is. Even M8.5.x is a little faster.

That's interesting. I still have Mepis 8 installed, never did try 8.5, and haven't yet tried Mepis 11. But I do have KDE4 running on a few other distros. I still log into Mepis 8, keep it updated, and use it sometimes. But I much prefer KDE4 over KDE 3.5 at this point.

lucky9 wrote:....You should remember that the version of KDE that's in Lenny is actually finished and tested. Everything else is being tested and is therefore in varying degrees of being finished....

I don't think that argument really applies to squeeze and KDE4 any more.

Yeah squeeze is still technically Debian's "testing" distro, but squeeze is due to be released in the next week to 10 days and you aren't going to see any significant changes to KDE4 between now and squeeze's release. So I would say KDE4 is also "finished" and "tested" (for all practical purposes).

Personally I like the new System Settings paradigm in KDE4. I like the information I am working on segregated. I also prefer Lancelot to the classic menu. Just shows that you cannot please everyone.

I'm a very ordinary user, and generally not interested in the bells and whistles of a desktop (I've only seen screenshots of the rotating cube, and haven't bothered to find out what 'compositing' means). I decided to have a look at Mepis 8.5 last May and found it OK. I still kept my 8.0 installation as my working setup, but gradually spent more time in 8.5.

A few things were different in the desktop, but I adjusted fairly quickly to those that weren't intuitive. I haven't had many issues with the change. I find Dolphin much better to work with than Konqueror, although I have one problem (to be raised shortly in a new thread).

I've just checked, and find that I last booted my 8.0 installation on 5 December - 'nuff said.

Phil

richb wrote:you cannot please everyone

Ain't that the truth.

kmathern wrote:

lucky9 wrote:....You should remember that the version of KDE that's in Lenny is actually finished and tested. Everything else is being tested and is therefore in varying degrees of being finished....

I don't think that argument really applies to squeeze and KDE4 any more.

Yeah squeeze is still technically Debian's "testing" distro, but squeeze is due to be released in the next week to 10 days and you aren't going to see any significant changes to KDE4 between now and squeeze's release. So I would say KDE4 is also "finished" and "tested" (for all practical purposes).

Just looking at the differences between Mepis 8.5 and 11 I could make a good case for what I would consider finished.
It's still not there. And won't be until anything that can be done in KDE 3 is available in KDE 4. At least almost anything. I wouldn't make a feature to feature comparison but I can be frustrated with the lack of a Detail View in System Settings and still like KDE 4 as implemented in SimplyMEPIS 11 a lot more than 8.5 or any KDE 3 that's current.

but I can be frustrated with the lack of a Detail View in System Settings
And won't be until anything that can be done in KDE 3 is available in KDE 4

It is called Tree View,
System Settings > Configure > Classic_Tree View,
What can you not do in KDE4 that you can in KDE3 ??

I feel pretty silly since I may not have even bothered looking for Tree View. I do like that interface better....I think. I wonder if I found it and didn't understand what it did? I'll have to make sure that I haven't missed (or miss-remembered) other things.
Considering I moved to Mepis 8.5 a very long time ago I have felt that there was very little I couldn't do with it. It's almost amazing that I missed or forgot or didn't like Tree View before now.

Thanks Danum!

Well, this poll is closed... it was really about KDE4 in Mepis 8.5, which I skipped. But as for the title of the thread -- "Happy with KDE 4 or not?" -- I'm extremely happy with it! Don't miss KDE 3.5 one bit (even though I still have Mepis 8 installed here).

I've got a few different versions going here. The oldest is in Scientific Linux 6, using KDE 4.3.4. The newest is in PCLOS -- 4.6.3.

I like using other DEs and WMs as well, but KDE4 is easily my favorite.

Danum wrote:What can you not do in KDE4 that you can in KDE3 ??

Sorry, I can not help myself. In KDE3 I can plug and play, any file format external HD, In KDE4 I can only do this if I reboot the system with the external HDs turned on before the reboot. :lipsrsealed:

zeeone wrote:

Danum wrote:What can you not do in KDE4 that you can in KDE3 ??

Sorry, I can not help myself. In KDE3 I can plug and play, any file format external HD, In KDE4 I can only do this if I reboot the system with the external HDs turned on before the reboot. :lipsrsealed:

I don't have that problem - I just checked. Plugged in my USB HD, 3 partitions (ext3, ext3, ntfs) all showing in Dolphin and they mount automatically. Removes just as easily.

Gaer Boy wrote:

zeeone wrote:

Danum wrote:What can you not do in KDE4 that you can in KDE3 ??

Sorry, I can not help myself. In KDE3 I can plug and play, any file format external HD, In KDE4 I can only do this if I reboot the system with the external HDs turned on before the reboot. :lipsrsealed:

I don't have that problem - I just checked. Plugged in my USB HD, 3 partitions (ext3, ext3, ntfs) all showing in Dolphin and they mount automatically. Removes just as easily.

Okay if you say it works, then I will try it again, it has not happened since the start of testing M11 and I have reported it several times with no replies.
Have the M11 HD, fresh install from the ISO, up and running. Plug the EXT3 external HD in, turn it on, there is the hi I am here blink and nothing.
Hummm, hang on I will get the one MacBook Pro that I have M11 dual booted on. I have been working other issues on it and have not tried to mount a external HD to it.
M11 is up and running, plugging in the external HD, turning it on, there is hi I am here blink and buda bing there it is. Mount it, there it shows up in dolphin.
Oh, can not unmount it from dolphin no right click from the Apple trac pad, there can do it from the task bar. There it does work on the Apple, wonder why it will
not work on the main machine. Wait a minute, let me try this, there that did it. I just hot, hot plugged(powered up) the external drive and it came up. Strange,
the Apple came up using the on/off switch and the main machine did not. To get the external to come up, I would have to power up the external, then reboot.
Well it is working now in a funny way on the main machine. Maybe because the main machine's M11 is 64bit and the Apple is 32bit. I stand corrected.
Thanks for the response.

zeeone wrote:

Gaer Boy wrote:

Danum wrote:What can you not do in KDE4 that you can in KDE3 ??

Sorry, I can not help myself. In KDE3 I can plug and play, any file format external HD, In KDE4 I can only do this if I reboot the system with the external HDs turned on before the reboot.

I don't have that problem - I just checked. Plugged in my USB HD, 3 partitions (ext3, ext3, ntfs) all showing in Dolphin and they mount automatically. Removes just as easily.

Okay if you say it works, then I will try it again, it has not happened since the start of testing M11 and I have reported it several times with no replies.
Have the M11 HD, fresh install from the ISO, up and running. Plug the EXT3 external HD in, turn it on, there is the hi I am here blink and nothing.
Hummm, hang on I will get the one MacBook Pro that I have M11 dual booted on. I have been working other issues on it and have not tried to mount a external HD to it.
M11 is up and running, plugging in the external HD, turning it on, there is hi I am here blink and buda bing there it is. Mount it, there it shows up in dolphin.
Oh, can not unmount it from dolphin no right click from the Apple trac pad, there can do it from the task bar. There it does work on the Apple, wonder why it will
not work on the main machine. Wait a minute, let me try this, there that did it. I just hot, hot plugged(powered up) the external drive and it came up. Strange,
the Apple came up using the on/off switch and the main machine did not. To get the external to come up, I would have to power up the external, then reboot.
Well it is working now in a funny way on the main machine. Maybe because the main machine's M11 is 64bit and the Apple is 32bit. I stand corrected.
Thanks for the response.

Research, Research, Research, Before You Walk The Plank.

OK - so how do I vote on this (I'm a NO)?

It must be easy since there are 170 votes and only 102 posts!

TenderFoot wrote:OK - so how do I vote on this (I'm a NO)?

It must be easy since there are 170 votes and only 102 posts!

This is an old poll that was closed March 28th.

richb wrote:

TenderFoot wrote:OK - so how do I vote on this (I'm a NO)?

It must be easy since there are 170 votes and only 102 posts!

This is an old poll that was closed March 28th.

Yeah -- and, again, it really was about KDE4 in Mepis 8.5. Maybe a new thread and poll would be good, but I think most people here are probably happy with KDE4, or else they wouldn't still be using Mepis.

Not sure that I agree with that conclusion since it's the only option in Mepis and the desktop is not the only reason for upgrading.

Anyway, I stuck with 8 to avoid KDE4 (cashews, widgets et al) in 8.5 but am now looking at Mepis 11 which is the subject of a new thread not long ago...!

TenderFoot wrote:Not sure that I agree with that conclusion since it's the only option in Mepis and the desktop is not the only reason for upgrading.

Anyway, I stuck with 8 to avoid KDE4 (cashews, widgets et al) in 8.5 but am now looking at Mepis 11 which is the subject of a new thread not long ago...!

I am not sure what conclusion you are referring to. The creator of the poll decides what it is about and how long it will run.

richb wrote:

TenderFoot wrote:Not sure that I agree with that conclusion since it's the only option in Mepis and the desktop is not the only reason for upgrading.

Anyway, I stuck with 8 to avoid KDE4 (cashews, widgets et al) in 8.5 but am now looking at Mepis 11 which is the subject of a new thread not long ago...!

I am not sure what conclusion you are referring to. The creator of the poll decides what it is about and how long it will run.

Probably my conclusion that most people here like KDE4, etc.

Thank you malspa - at least you understood.

TenderFoot wrote:Anyway, I stuck with 8 to avoid KDE4 (cashews, widgets et al) in 8.5 but am now looking at Mepis 11 which is the subject of a new thread not long ago...!

For most of us, KDE4 has been an acquired taste. But I believe that in nearly all cases, us KDE3.5 diehards have come around, and today are happy with the DTE. And those that aren't, well... they've at least quit beating the horse. It died a long time ago.

TenderFoot wrote:Anyway, I stuck with 8 to avoid KDE4 (cashews, widgets et al) in 8.5 but am now looking at Mepis 11 which is the subject of a new thread not long ago...!

I stuck with Mepis 8 for a long time, too -- completely skipped 8.5, in fact. I was quite surprised when I found that I liked KDE4 after all.

I'm OK with the effects and not needing to invoke Compiz. I just find the tray and widgets bit far too contrived and clunky. I find screenlets much nicer but unfortunately the shadows don't work properly with KDE4.

.
I wouldn't exactly say I like KDE4 over KDE3, but rather that I've gotten used to it. I'm okay with it.

zeeone wrote:Okay if you say it works, then I will try it again, it has not happened since the start of testing M11 and I have reported it several times with no replies.
Have the M11 HD, fresh install from the ISO, up and running. Plug the EXT3 external HD in, turn it on, there is the hi I am here blink and nothing.
Hummm, hang on I will get the one MacBook Pro that I have M11 dual booted on. I have been working other issues on it and have not tried to mount a external HD to it.
M11 is up and running, plugging in the external HD, turning it on, there is hi I am here blink and buda bing there it is. Mount it, there it shows up in dolphin.
Oh, can not unmount it from dolphin no right click from the Apple trac pad, there can do it from the task bar. There it does work on the Apple, wonder why it will
not work on the main machine. Wait a minute, let me try this, there that did it. I just hot, hot plugged(powered up) the external drive and it came up. Strange,
the Apple came up using the on/off switch and the main machine did not. To get the external to come up, I would have to power up the external, then reboot.
Well it is working now in a funny way on the main machine. Maybe because the main machine's M11 is 64bit and the Apple is 32bit. .

Not quite clear what you did, but I always switch the USB drive on, then plug the USB in. I've found this works more reliably than the other way round.

I started this poll to see how people were finding KDE 4.x (Mepis 8.5) in comparison with KDE 3.x as it was the first official KDE 4 Mepis release.

Now M11 is out with KDE 4.5 maybe a new poll to find out if people that weren't happy with KDE 4.x in Mepis 8.5 have come round to KDE 4.5 in Mepis 11 could run? Feel free anyone to go for it - I'm sure it will get plenty of discussion going, but I'm equally sure that less than 25% of people will be *unhappy* with KDE 4.5 in M11!

I for one certainly find it much improved in M11 and can't wait to upgrade to KDE 4.6 and beyond! (well I could go for it now but I'm not yet in the mood for breaking things!! )

Haven't tried it yet. Still running KDE 3.something under MEPIS 8 lenny.

vast improvement from m8.5 to m11. feels much more coherent, performance is great, looks awesome, etc. i personally got none of that from kde 4.x in m8.5

have to admit, though, i still do like kde3 too. not enough to go back, though, mind you. :)

Oh yea...It's nice. I think Mepis 11 with kde 4 is pretty hard to beat.

Yup mepis 11 is hard to beat. As for kde 4 it's good once you get used to it. I like it. So very happy with kde 4 and mepis 11...

No, I am not happy with KDE 4. Warren did an awsome job with it, but it's still a sow's ear. That is KDE's fault. If I'd wanted a Mac, I would have bought one.

slopoke wrote:No, I am not happy with KDE 4. Warren did an awsome job with it, but it's still a sow's ear. That is KDE's fault. If I'd wanted a Mac, I would have bought one.

The cow has already left the barn door.

Acesabe wrote:As Mepis 8.5 with KDE 4 has been with us long enough for most of us to have given it a good work out, I thought it might be interesting to find out if people are happy with it or not.

I did not use 8.5, but I have been using Mepis 11 for a while, and recently Danum's 4.7 remaster with good results. But I have several systems that can not sport enough memory for KDE 4, and it would be nice to have a KDE4 that was small enough for these systems.

I haven't got a clue what neopunk is about other than it creates lots of errors or seems to be the achilles heel of Mepis and is necessary for the Kmail client. All I can tell you about KDE4 almost every time I shut down my system I have lots of neopunk errors, or any time the system locks up it is a neopunk error. Other than that is seems to be flawless, and as dependable as KDE 3.5...

The boot speed of KDE 4 is faster, than KDE 3, or KDE 3.5. I believe Mr. Woodford did a grand job releasing Mepis 8.5 & Mepis 11 provding a lot of the dependability people are experiencing with KDE4, and I like Danum's remaster with the newer kernel. But I do miss the rock solid performance of KDE 3. In my systems that are mostly stock, it appears from my user experience that neopunk needs to be brought up the the standard expected from Linux to bring KDE4 to the level of usability of KDE 3.

JR

My vanilla system has not had a nepomuk error that I'm aware of. It does shut itself down if I'm using a lot of processor cycles. But that's not an error. That's it working correctly.

lucky9 wrote:My vanilla system has not had a nepomuk error that I'm aware of. It does shut itself down if I'm using a lot of processor cycles. But that's not an error. That's it working correctly.

There is something that is triggering neopunk errors in my systems. I live in the Usenet, I do email, watch & list items on craigslist, and ebay, use gimp & inkscape and little else on a real time basis. I run older AMD quads 620, 630 and never use much of the computer resources of one maybe two cores so would not believe it is a lot of processor cycles killing my systems or neopunk.

What I see a great deal of the time, during shut down a small box on the upper left portion pops up informing me after that I have a neopunk error, before the system fully shuts down. The other neopunk error I will close Google and boom the system locks with a neopunk error box in the upper left portion of the screen. This latter error does not happen with Danum's 4.7 remaster. It happens with the fully updated Mepis 11 version I am running all day. Annoying, and from what i read neopunk is not adorned with lots of warm feelings by a number of vocal users that post in a lot of different web locations.

To me neopunk errors in my systems is only another reboot and confirmation that Mepis 8 running KDE 3 was very stable, and did not have these types of problems. The major problem, Mepis 8 is at product end. All I desire is a solid replacement I am familiar using with without the number of Neopunk errors I experience. As a user I feel as Neopunk matures or is tossed KDE 4 X window manager will become better.

JR

If I were having those sorts of problems with nepomuk I'd disable it. It's not really necessary for most of what a normal user does.

Earlier versions of KDE 4 did have Nepomuk issues. These were corrected at 4.7 and above.

.
very happy with my 64bit M11, wheezy, aptoo box, kde 4.8.4 .

it just keeps getting faster while remaining as stable as the pyramids.

great work guys

mines >> atm >>

As of this afternoon, I am much happier w/ KDE 4.8.4. I had a hard time seeing the current time on the taskbar icon. So I right clicked on "Digital Clock Settings" and was able to change the characters to large, bold, black instead of the default white with a thin black outline. So much easier to read!

I've just this afternoon installed KDE 4.8.4 on MX14. So far: GREAT!

I've liked XFCE for years. But I love KDE. There is always room for improvement, of course, but in my mind, KDE is the desktop against which all others, Linux, MS or Apple, have to be measured.

SilverBear wrote:I've just this afternoon installed KDE 4.8.4 on MX14. So far: GREAT!

I've liked XFCE for years. But I love KDE. There is always room for improvement, of course, but in my mind, KDE is the desktop against which all others, Linux, MS or Apple, have to be measured.

Yes, I was pleasantly surprised about how easy it was to install KDE on top of MX-14. The configuration took some time, and there are a few "gotchas" along the way, but overall it wasn't bad. I like a full-featured OS. My machine is old (circa 2006), but it was designed for Vista so it still has plenty of horsepower to handle KDE, so why not?

joany wrote:

SilverBear wrote:I've just this afternoon installed KDE 4.8.4 on MX14. So far: GREAT!

I've liked XFCE for years. But I love KDE. There is always room for improvement, of course, but in my mind, KDE is the desktop against which all others, Linux, MS or Apple, have to be measured.

Yes, I was pleasantly surprised about how easy it was to install KDE on top of MX-14. The configuration took some time, and there are a few "gotchas" along the way, but overall it wasn't bad. I like a full-featured OS. My machine is old (circa 2006), but it was designed for Vista so it still has plenty of horsepower to handle KDE, so why not?

I'm still running "The Klingon" as a "family machine" --which I built in 2006. I did upgrade it twice --once "not by choice" when a lightning strike down the road blew out telephone & computer equipment in a 3/4 mile radius (we live in the country, near the top of a big hill in the Allegheny foothills).

Divert to MS-Win for a min: I know Win-Vista and (to some extent) Win7 are resource hogs, so you're in good shape with a Vista-certified machine. Linux OS requirements are just now catching up to that level of HW resource need!

Win 8 actually is more resource-efficient than 7. However, my experiments with 8 (in conjunction with UEFI "BIOS") have led me to a simple judgment: Windows 8 is a spyware Trojan masquerading as an Operating System. I literally had to reformat my HDD as an MS-DOS disk to get rid of Win8 -- just deleting it wasn't enough on a UEFI-formatted HDD.

The point is: I don't know what your hardware specs are, but you might be able to get by fine for a good, long while with MX14, even running KDE.

Unfortunately, upgrading that era's HW can be more expensive than deciding to rebuild your current box from the motherboard up -- or even build a new box. DDR2 RAM (obsolete) has mostly been more expensive than newer DDR3 RAM -unless you find a supplier just trying to get rid of back stock. So if you start to feel like you need beefier HW, let me know, and we can discuss how to get you what you might need without spending more than you have to spend.

In the mean time: a couple months ago I installed MX14 (stock XFCE) on my wife's ASUS 1015PE Netbook, and it runs fine. 1 GB RAM. Now, understand, she just uses it as an "internet machine," not a full computer --but she plays youtube vids &c with careless abandon, and has no problems. She had been on antiX since about 2010, but MX14 has caused no complaints. What's not to like???

It's a good testimonial to what anticapitalista and the rest of our Mepis Community has been able to achieve, IMO!

joany wrote:My machine is old (circa 2006), but it was designed for Vista so it still has plenty of horsepower to handle KDE, so why not?

That must have been a high end machine at the time. Many of those early "Vista Ready" machines were dogs, which is one of the big reasons Vista got such a bad rap early on. Vista wasn't so bad, but it was being installed on inadequate hardware.

While KDE 4 is easy to install, it's out of date and buggy which it has also affected theming in Xfce. I would like to try Plasma 5 but I wouldn't be surprised if it's also buggy.

It is possible to have it and xfce installed at the same time without destroying each other's theming. Check out the KDE-added respin I did in a Live session to see what I mean.

Mauser wrote:While KDE 4 is easy to install, it's out of date and buggy which it has also affected theming in Xfce. I would like to try Plasma 5 but I wouldn't be surprised if it's also buggy.

While I hesitate to respond to a thread that is over three years old basically concerning Mepis 8.5 KDE, I will. I used KDE4 a lot. I did not find it buggy. Plasma 5 has matured and also is not buggy.

Stevo wrote:It is possible to have it and xfce installed at the same time without destroying each other's theming. Check out the KDE-added respin I did in a Live session to see what I mean.

Thanks, but I am afraid to try.