KDE-Forum.org

Hello,

I switched a while ago to linux and started with gnome (ubuntu). After growing to hate rhythmbox I downloaded amarok and was amazed by the awesomeness of the application. Soon after I switched to KDE and was both further delighted and in some ways disappointed.

Start bar/task bars

KDE's current default taskbar sucks, at least I believe it does. When I switched from xp to gnome I was pleasantly surprised to find taskbars that were different and made life easier. Everything was divided up logically and easy to access, and it looked good too. It wasn't flashy, but the two thin bars at the top and the bottom screamed (insert noun form of favoured superlative).

In KDE not only was the taskbar ugly (I'll be surprised if anyone would contest this), but starting programs seemed like a chore, nested in several different menus.

I honestly do not see why KDE must have a start bar however. My ideal KDE 4 would have a text box on the task bar integrated with KDE's beagle version, where typing a string "kop" would list applications, files, folders, (bookmarked websites?) with that string and pressing enter would launch the first one on the list. E.G. to launch kopete I could simply press an f-key hotkey and type "kop" and press enter.

Or to launch a file called "short story" in kword I would not need to navigate the file hierarchy with Konqueror and then select it, or activate yakuake and type "kword Home/UTS/M4/English/short\ story &" but could simply type "short s" and press enter and it would open with the default viewer. For applications for which the name is not known, the sub menus that are part of kmenu could be sorted and put on two taskbars. Yes it may be a little gnomish, but this to me seems like one of the only things gnome got right.

Tasks

Secondly I believe the idea the guy had on this mock-up was awesome: http://static.kdenews.org/dannya/vol4_mockup.jpg although I believe an installation would be better counted as a task, but that's just me.

Konqueror: both a File-manager and Web-browser

The first thing I have to say is that after switching to KDE I fell in love with Konqueror. There was no doubt in my mind after the switch that KDE apps were far better than their gnome equivalents (nautilus? haha).

The bit that annoys me though is when I have two windows, I cannot tell apart from looking on the taskbar which is the file manager and which is the web browser. I think integration is good, but sometimes discrimination makes it easier. Causing konqueror to rename itself, assign a different icon, depending on the task (browsing, file managing) I doubt would make things more difficult. The reason they were integrated is because they are both elements of navigation, one of a file system and one of the web.

This is just a rough idea, but why not make any program that you would open and use to edit a file part of the same framework? Because after all, what you are doing is changing the properties of an object on your filesystem. E.G. I open a .odf in konqueror, and it is opened inside the window with kword (and the icon and the name of the window changes), and after I'm finished editing I press back and return to browsing the parent folder.

Konqueror's file managing/web-browsing integration is nice, and as more features are added (document viewing), some people are complaining that it is becoming a victim of feature-bloat, and if it takes on the responsibility of dedicated apps it will always do things second best. Why not make it a framework for the best way of doing things?

XGL AIGLX integration

I used beryl for a while, and before it grew incredibly unstable on my system (couldn't move/deselect windows, couldn't run wine) I loved it. I would open Konqueror and it would pop up with subtle eye-candy and it would feel awesome. And then I would open a tab and it would just open. I don't know exactly how AIGLX/XGL Beryl/Compiz work or how an application would access their plugins/the graphics card (well you access the graphics card with opengl, but other than that...) but I do believe that KDE apps could benefit from 3d-accelerated effects in the same way as window managers (beryl made me more productive, was more pleasent, and actually faster, when it was working properly at least for me).

I'm not suggesting this should be enabled by default, but I believe a "KDEx" branch of applications could be an innovation KDE could give.

END

If you agree/disagree with what I suggested (or have a similar idea) please post and rate the thread.

I'm currently learning C++ and java and am looking forward to contributing to open source projects but until then this is the best I can do .

I'd be honored if anything I suggested is in anyway incorporated into KDE 4.

I love KDE. Make KDE4 better.

Thanks for the response.

I've already gotten rid of k-menu but have no replacement, kbfx seemed too foreign to the rest of KDE (never occurred to me Kickoff would be installable on any distro but *suse, and tasty menu... looks tasty).

And I am definitely getting katapult.

My suggestion however revolved around the removal of a proper startmenu altogether, replaced by a simple task-bar based text box (katapult-like, but also accessing folders and files) and some sub-menus. Though if plasma is as powerful as it seems, I doubt I will have much difficulty configuring it for myself.

Interesting what I found about dolphin, it seems it will be the name of the file manager while Konqueror will be the web-page, text document, image viewer.

On aiglx, I was aware they had it working with metacity, but not with kwin. I was however suggesting the implementation of aiglx features not in the window manager but in other apps. I.E. if switching tabs in konqueror one would snap back with an elastic effect while the other shot forward over the area. Or switching sidebar types would prompt a fade between the bookmark list and the amarok multimedia player plugin. Accelerating window managers is SO passé, all the major operating system do it now .