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Screenshot Tour Of Kubuntu 10.10 “Maverick Meerkat”

By on October 11th, 2010     

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Yesterday we published screenshots of the changes in Ubuntu 10.10. Today, we take a look at KDE-based Ubuntu derivative Kubuntu.

So, what are the new things you may expect to see in Kubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat? Read on.

As in our Ubuntu post, we will only look at the visible changes.

 

Theme, Wallpaper etc.

Kubuntu has always kept the default KDE SC theme and wallpaper. This release is no exception. It uses the an unmodified Air Theme and the default wallpaper that comes with KDE SC 4.5.

Unlike the case with GNOME, this does not mean it looks bad. KDE SC, by default, has always had amazing theme and wallpapers.

Desktop 1_014

KPackageKit

The default package manager in Kubuntu 10.10 is KPackageKit. It has a new user interface which gives greater emphasis on the applications.

The influence from the Ubuntu Software Center is clearly visible with the new categorization of applications.

KPackageKit_015

Like the Ubuntu Software Center KPackageKit also keeps track of the installed applications and the history of install-uninstall.

KPackageKit_017

New Default Web-Browser – Rekonq

Firefox is no longer the default web-browser in Kubuntu 10.10. The webkit-based Rekonq is now the default web-browser.

Rekonq is a very new web-browser and it works surprisingly works well. It works without any problem in GMail, YouTube etc.

However the lack of extensions/plugins will mean that a majority of the people leave it for Chromium or Firefox.

Digitizor - Your Guide to Everything Technology – rekonq_018

The Ubuntu Font

You may or may not have noticed it in the screenshots above, but Kubuntu 10.10 also uses the new Ubuntu font.

Font Installer – System Settings_019 

The Ubuntu font looks great in Ubuntu, but in Kubuntu i feel that it looks a little out of place.

BlueDevil

Bluetooth in Kubuntu 10.10 no longer rely on KBluetooth. Instead it relies on the much newer (and better?) BlueDevil.

Selection_020

Message Indicator Plasmoid

Selection_003 Like in Ubuntu, Kubuntu now uses a message indicator applet for IRC and Instant Messaging applications.

It turns green when there is a new message.

Kubuntu Netbook 10.10

With Kubuntu 10.10, both the desktop edition and the netbook edition are included in the same CD. You can switch between the desktop and netbook interface on the without logging off. (Here is how to do it.)

Like in the desktop interface, the netbook interface does not have any modification from the default one with KDE SC.

Desktop 1_021This is default KDE SC feature, but typing the application name in the search box, it brings up the application – pretty neat.

Desktop 1_022Notice the star at the top left of the Amarok icon. Clicking on that makes it a favorite application and it will be shown at the top along with rekonq, KMail etc.

When you maximize an application, the panel at the top auto-hides.

The netbook interface has another page (or activity, if you prefer the actual name) called “newspaper”.

It basically is a collection of different plamoids. You can edit what plasmoids are shown.

Desktop 1_023




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  • John

    So… does KDE finally rock, or does it still suck as a bad and slower Windows 7 copycat?

    • Ricky

      KDE has always been much faster than Windows 7 for me.
      And KDE 4 came out before Windows 7. So its Windows 7 copying KDE; not the other way round.

      • John

        Pfff. Give me a breath. What about the Aero snap copy? The taskbar identical to Vista in 4.2 (because it was a Vista copy in the beginning)? The search field on Dolphin? Just a few things I can remember right now. I have a computer P4 3.2 GHz with 1 GB memory, Ubuntu, XP an even Vista ran just fine on that computer, and KDE, since 4.2 to 4.4 was slow and unstable as hell.

        • the_madman

          I guess they copied window tabbing from Windows as well? The netbook interface? Shared widgets between panels and the desktop? Screen-edge hotspots to activate KWin effects? The netbook menu? The window, widget and desktop themes and icons? The new notification system? File manager tabs, split panes and the selection icon? Hell, if you want to go REALLY far back, we can start asking who they stole KIO and KParts from.

          They didn’t, “steal” this stuff from people. You know what goes on in KDE? People implement stuff they LIKE. That’s a damn-sight more than can be said about Gnome!

  • http://www.ankurchauhan.net Ankur Chauhan

    nice review
    i still prefer Gnome though

  • MichaelADeBose

    I get that the standard KDE desktop is beautiful, but it is still standard. Ubuntu has to realize that Kubuntu is as much their product as Ubuntu. They need to give Kubuntu as much of a focus, in the public view as they do Ubuntu. This leads to consistency of message and consistency of product. This isn’t about the differences in Gnome or KDE because none of that matters to the masses. They don’t know and they don’t care.

    One of the business failings of techies is that we don’t get that we are marketing our products to the vast masses who don’t get tech and don’t want to. They just want pretty and they want something that works. Who would buy something that looks like the standard whatever that everyone else is selling. This is my point. Even though Ubuntu/K may be free, if you want mass adoption then you must address the way the masses think. You can’t get around it.

    Somehow Ubuntu seems to think of the their modified Gnome theme as the Gnome on Ubuntu theme instead of the theme for all of Ubuntu. There will be complaints from all of the people who can easily and readily go in and change it to whatever they want it to be in the first place, which is to say that everyone will be happy in the end. Marketing wise, they should take the Gnome desktop and then take the best of what KDE offers and KDE it up for Kubuntu. The end result would be the KDE and Gnome desktops are thematically similar with the same color schemes. As much as people that understand tech may deride Apple they need to take a few lessons from them. As long as this duality exist on Ubuntu proper (not the OS) there will never be the Ubuntu “Experience” and when you sell to the masses it is all about the experience. KDE and Gnome are just that, so Ubuntu must keep the focus on the underlying OS, and this is how its done.

    • Ricky

      Absolutely agree with your point. Even the logo at kickoff is the KDE logo.

      The problem though is that Canonical has only one paid employee working on Kubuntu. (Thats what I’ve been told.) SO, the extent of changes they are putting in at GNOME for Ubuntu is not possible with KDE.

      That being said, it would be nice to have a slightly modified theme (maybe the color scheme to match with Ubuntu as you’ve said) and maybe a wallpaper to set it apart.

      • nikola
      • http://michaeladebose.collected.info/ Michael A. De Bose

        I know this is so late right. Looking for other comment and saw yours. I just happened to install PCBSD late last night, so couldn’t help myself.

        Whatever I said about Kubuntu, applies manifold for PCBSD. I gravitate towards PCBSD/FreeBSD because I think its important to learn the “Unix” way of doing things and then learn the “alternatives”. PCBSD is kind of slow to me and the theme is seriously 1970s. As a geek I really wish geeks would realize that coding for others/consumers is a different skill altogether than just mere coding. While I am still pulling for PCBSD its saving grace may be that it isn’t Linux but BSD, but the other Linux flavors should probably worry that Ubuntu may become de facto among the linux OSs. With this whole Wayland thing it is clear that Ubuntu is starting to figure out the consumer experience and is willing to take big risk to differentiate itself from the pack. Hopefully this won’t end up being a mindshare drain for the other projects related to OS, but that is what can get some lone poor person working on a KDE version right!

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  • http://chafflube.wordpress.com Dillon Chaffey

    I am very glad to see the Maverick Meerkat version of the great Kubuntu emerge into the world. I am still in confusion as to why it was released with such a small amount of included software, in comparison to Kubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx), of which had few bundles applications. Hopefully in the next release there will be some more office applications and games pre-installed perhaps? I understand that it is a very simple process to install software onto the Kubuntu platform, using KPackageKit and the apt-get command in terminal; however, it would be a great convenience say the next release were to include a larger gaming and/or office suite. A larger amount of pre-installed screen savers, wallpapers, themes, icon themes and sound themes would also not go unappreciated. Overall this release looks as though it will become a very important block in the foothold of Kubuntu over the much more commonly used Windows. Great share!



Screenshot Tour Of Kubuntu 10.10 “Maverick Meerkat” was originally published on Digitizor.com on October 11, 2010 - 10:40 pm (Indian Standard Time)