This week the first milestone release of openSUSE was made available. Together with the KDE 4.4 release candidate and excellent integration of GTK applications such as Firefox, openSUSE simply provides the greatest KDE experience available to date. Here's why.
This version of KDE will see the introduction of a long awaited custom Plasma interface for netbooks, which is available in this build of openSUSE.
Under the Desktop settings in Personal Settings one can set the Workspace to be either a Desktop or Netbook form factor. Changing these will instantly re-arrange the desktop, removing the task bar and replacing the desktop with buttons to load various applications. These are grouped by category, similar to traditional programs menu style. Hovers provide detailed information about each application or category. It looks very sleek however, with smooth hovering and scrolling when needed.
The netbook desktop consists of the default interface for launching applications, aptly named “Search and launch,” which allows users to load programs and search for items. Here all the applications currently running are available via the top right hand corner switcher (or via Alt+Tab, of course).
Plasma Netbook Search and Launch
In addition to this is Page one, an extra desktop which by default is dedicated to life online. It includes things like news and weather, as well as opendesktop and knowledge base. These plasmoids are completely configurable, of course.
Unfortunately, these items do take up a lot of room, far more than would be available on a small screen. The desktop scrolls down to show all other widgets, but part of the point of this style of interface is to be able to see everything at a glance. Perhaps these should automatically shrink down to bar essentials and expand when the users hovers over them instead. That would make far better use of the space and still allow the user to see what’s happening elsewhere. Nevertheless, it is an interesting set up and no doubt this too will be improved over time.
Plasma Netbook Page one
The netbook interface is really neat, however it does seem somewhat clunky when switching between things quickly. It is still a technology preview however and will no doubt improve over time. Nevertheless, it is a great addition to the KDE desktop environment to have.
Fitting into a Qt World
Unfortunately, Konqueror and its ageing KHTML engine simply don’t make the grade any more and so the biggest hole in the KDE desktop is a solid, well integrated web browser. There are a few options however, such as experimental support for webkit in Konqueror (although some developers argue it’s a waste of time) and several other native browsers such as Arora.
Unfortunately, none of these have the same popularity as Firefox, which remains the browser of choice for the Linux desktop. For too long KDE users have had to suffer through an ugly browsing experience, one of the most common tasks performed on a modern computer. Fortunately, while we wait for Konqueror to catch up or another browser to catch on, openSUSE users can already have a simply beautiful experience using Firefox under KDE. The patches have not yet been adopted up stream, but there are plans to make it so.
Introduced in version 11.2, openSUSE’s modified version of Firefox actually looks and feels like a Qt application. The interface itself, configuration settings and all other windows use Qt styling. Even the file picker is KDE’s native Dolphin rather than the built in default, which really helps Firefox fit into the desktop.
openSUSE’s Firefox integration
All in all, this makes for one great experience browsing the web under KDE. Finally, someone has plugged the missing hole! Users put off by KDE due to poor GTK integration for applications such as Firefox will now need to find some other excuse, because today, the experience on openSUSE is pretty neat.
It doesn’t stop there however. OpenOffice.org feels like a native Qt app, as does GIMP. Like Firefox, the interface looks Qt in appearance and the office suite also uses the default Dolphin file manager, instead of its own. Hopefully the same can be done for GIMP and other GTK applications down the track.
openSUSE’s OpenOffice.org integration
Even so, the difference between these GTK applications on openSUSE and other KDE based distros is truly remarkable. Finally, GTK applications feel at home on a Qt environment!
Other Goodies
The KDE Live CD includes a “KDE Quick Start” guide for assisting users find their way around the desktop. It’s an excellent, easy to read document which explains the ins and outs of KDE, providing lots of advice along the way. It’s also available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
The other improvements to openSUSE with this milestone release are what we would come to expect, updated versions of major applications and components. These include:
- Linux kernel 2.6.32
- Firefox 3.6
- OpenOffice.org 3.2-beta4
- K3b 1.69, the KDE optical burning application (en route to 2.0 stable Qt4 release)
- Amarok 2.2.2, the KDE music player
- Digikam 1.0.0, the KDE Photo Manager digikam
There are some other major benefits to this release, including an update of Zypper, openSUSE’s package manager. Like Ubuntu’s Personal Package Archive, the openSUSE community has access to a wide range of additional repositories. These often include official packages for the latest versions of major applications such as OpenOffice.org and even KDE itself. openSUSE also offers One Click Installs, the online build service and even the graphical configuration tool YaST (if you like that sort of thing).
With these latest improvements, the upcoming KDE 4.4, and the integration of GTK apps in a Qt environment, openSUSE makes for one persuasive distribution.
Full steam ahead
This first milestone of openSUSE certainly has a few rough edges, but all in all it actually feels very good for what it is. The final version is not due until June, but if this is a sign of things to come, then it’s going to be one killer release. The current stable version of openSUSE 11.2 is already an outstanding product in its own right.
Finally, we have a distribution which has a universal feel, looks great from start to end, integrates seamlessly with every component. There’s really only one word to describe this, “sleek.” No other distro integrates GTK applications into KDE4 like openSUSE does out of the box. Of course, this is nothing new, openSUSE had already achieved this in their previous release. Thanks to the polish of KDE 4.4 however, this release is even better. Make no mistake, openSUSE is the benchmark for KDE distributions. Nothing else even comes close.
Christopher Smart has been using Linux since 1999. In 2005 he created Kororaa Linux, which delivered the world's first Live CD showcasing 3D
desktop effects. He also founded the
MakeTheMove website, which introduces users to free software and encourages them to switch. In his spare time he enjoys writing articles on free software.
Comments on "The Greatest KDE Distro Ever: An Early Look at openSUSE 11.3"
About two months ago I got fed up with all the irritating bugs in Kubuntu, and decided to return to Suse after an absence of some years. I installed 11.2, and I\’m really happy with it. It\’s much more polished than Kubuntu, and I\’m really looking forward to 11.3.
I use Mandriva and I have been happy with the KDE updates. Your point about comfort to Windows folk migrating is well-taken though it will definitely upset GNOME aficianados. Mandriva also has out their 2010.1 Alpha which shows similar promise. I do wonder why your article did not mention akonadi which is a very useful desktop enhancement.
GNOME is very respectable but is more of a leap for the migration of Winusers (Even though Evolution has it hands-down over KMail for communicating with non-compliant servers and Exchange and otherwise emulating Outlook and feel).
wilimag has a point, too. If Microsoft issued the best ever linux distro under GPLv3 I still would not use it. Same provision for its partners like Novell.
It may be \”The Greatest KDE Distro Ever\”, but it is Suse.
Suse is coming from Novell.
I prefer to boycott on them.
I have to question \”Greatest KDE Distro Ever\”, that seems more sensational than actual, and it seems more like opinion than fact. I would, however, generally agree, based on my own tests, that KDE 4.4 is a significant improvement, that the release, when finalized, seems more stable and functionally complete than we have seen in a few years now and it ought to be one of the better releases. But until we can substantiate product quality, setting that high claim is a bit much. It may end up as \”one of the best\”, but to me, that\’s a bit of a line and it takes away from the credibility of the story in my mind. Moreover, though openSUSE certainly is a desktop technology leader, they have consistently had quality control issues, and releasing a product with release candidate software, though getting it in people\’s hands, simply furthers my suspicions that their quality assurance leaves much to be desired, so again, I find those kinds of things far from \”The Greatest Ever\”, more like the potential for the biggest letdown.
I love technology releases, and I personally use the Mandriva Cooker and Debian Sid a lot. I have too much trouble with openSUSE, and I just have never gotten used to using it as a result, and I find Fedora to be close, in terms of having great preview technology, but highly suspect early release quality. I\’d consider looking at either of them two months after release, but not now? GREAT? Great to wait a quarter at least!
\”Finally, someone has plugged the missing hole!\”
If the hole is missing, why does it need to be plugged?
I\’ll admit that the openSuse team do a great job with KDE, but I\’m not a big fan of rpm packages, and not entirely comfortable with the Suse/Microsoft mono situation. So for now, it\’s not a distribution I\’ll be choosing.
opensuse may well have one of the best KDE implementations, unfortunately it is still opensuse. It is not so much about the distro being funded by Novell or their way of heavily pushing mono on their users. It is more the matter of the way the distribution is built in comparision to other binary distros. The suse init process is horrible. Also the way they package the kernel, gcc, and other packages is just downright nasty. These are just 2 examples. openuse has the tendancy to break things with their updates, most the times leaving some users not being able to use their box\’s for weeks. Their Community is rather rude (mostly novell employees or fanbois) and the help you get is second rate at best.
Apologies for the delay, I have been away.
@wilimag, that\’s true and I don\’t like Novell either. However, the openSUSE community also created this project, not just Novell employees, and I think that the community should not be shunned. Once Novell is gone, the openSUSE community will go on.
@mrrtd, one of the beautiful things about Mono is that it\’s not included in KDE at all, yet. The default install of KDE, even under openSUSE, does not include Mono or any of its libraries :-) RPM packages are pretty much the same as Debs, perhaps you mean the management of them rather than the format itself? If so, you really, really should try Zypper. It\’s brilliant.
-c
Hello Everyone,
I don\’t know why Suse is to become the best distro ever. I\’ve been dissapointed by Suse a while ago, then again I had Mandriva and I got fed up with RPM packages causing all sorts of disruptions in the system. I think we can only judge the system by the way it reacts to changes when applications added.
Now I am only using Sabayon based on Gentoo. The Sabayon team has been delivering an awesome system from my point of view. There is hardly anything that would not work. I\’ve been using it since 2006, in the meantime still tried other distros and to me no distro looks like Sabayon.
KDE – that\’s a bit of another story. I just wonder how many version we need to go trough until all bugs are fixed, although to me version 4.3.4 is a good step.
Can I ask those who use Suse – how good is the sound system on Suse? Does it use PulseAudio? Is it setup correctly?
For example do those who use Suse have any problems with apps blocking each other?
Best regards,
Richard
\”OK, I’ll say it. KDE 4.4 is far superior to any release before it. Brace yourselves folks, it’s time to (finally) let go of version 3.\”
You can have my KDE 3.5 when you pry it from my cold dead hands.
\”Unfortunately, Konqueror and its ageing KHTML engine simply don’t make the grade any more and so the biggest hole in the KDE desktop is a solid, well integrated web browser.\”
Konqueror is not a web browser, Firefox is a web browser. Konqueror is the best file manager I\’ve ever seen (split windows, service menus, drag and drop FTP access to remote sites…. it\’s great).
And for the record, I don\’t like Dolphin as a file manager.
\”Overall, the Plasma experience with 4.4 is impressive. Everything runs very fast and effects are very nice. In short, it truly looks high class. Users switching from a Vista or Windows 7 should more feel at home, especially when compared to the GNOME desktop.\”
Are you looking to start a holy war (another one)?
Kubuntu: one distro to rule them all.