KDE Software Compilation 4

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KDE Software Compilation 4

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Screenshot of KDE Plasma Desktop
KDE Plasma Desktop
Basic data

developer KDE
Publishing year 2006
Current  version 4.14.3
(November 11, 2014)
operating system Unix-like (including FreeBSD , GNU / Linux , macOS ), Windows
programming language C ++ ( Qt )
category Program collection
License GPL , LGPL and others
German speaking Yes
kde.org

KDE Software Compilation 4 ( KDE SC 4 for short ) is the fourth generation of the freely available software collection from KDE , which mainly consists of the KDE Plasma Workspaces for netbooks and PCs as well as some individual applications and is available in many other languages ​​in addition to German.

The KDE software compilation is primarily intended for computers running a Unix-like operating system. From version 4.1 it can also be used directly under Windows or macOS .

surfaces

KDE's Plasma Desktop 4.2

In contrast to previous generations, the flexible design of the technical foundation, especially plasma , allows adaptation to a wide variety of device types and form factors . The KDE project calls the resulting different interfaces workspaces . Currently, interfaces for desktops, netbooks, tablets and media centers are officially offered. Others, e.g. B. for smartphones are in progress.

Basic application programs

The software compilation is a very large program package that contains many individual applications. Essential applications are:

Not part of the Software Compilation are Calligra Suite and Extragear applications such. B. Amarok and K3b .

history

The new desktop effects

KDE 4.0

On August 18, 2006, the KDE team released the first pre-release version of KDE 4.0, named Krash, under version number 3.80.1, which was followed by two more snapshots . These three versions are aimed primarily at developers who want to port their applications to KDE 4 or write new applications for KDE 4. Changes to KDE 3.5 that are visible to users have hardly been made in these versions.

On May 11, 2007, KDE 4 was released in a first alpha version. For the first time, KDE 4 also showed clear visual differences to KDE 3, since, for example, the oxygen icon was included. The first of four beta versions appeared on August 2, 2007. On November 20, 2007, the first of two release candidates (RC) were released. On January 11th, 2008 the final KDE 4.0 was finally released.

KDE 4.0 is based on Qt 4.3. Since it also brings with it other fundamental changes, it is binary incompatible with KDE 3.x.

The changes visible on the surface were mainly developed as part of the Oxygen and Plasma projects . The former takes care of, in particular, the creation of the artwork of KDE 4, so a new icon - and widget - topic and the like. Plasma replaces programs such as kicker ( taskbar ) and kdesktop ( desktop ) and thus makes the surface more uniform.

Furthermore, the Phonon multimedia API was developed, which replaces the old aRts sound server . Phonon provides a uniform API for developing audio and video applications , comparable to DirectShow under Windows and CoreAudio under Mac OS X. However, it is not itself a sound server like aRts, but only a wrapper that enables the use of different backends .

The purpose of the Solid project is to make it easier for users to work with computer hardware, especially those that can be plugged in and unplugged during operation. Another intention of Solid is to make KDE more platform-independent : In order to also publish native versions of KDE for other operating systems, such as Windows, an abstraction layer is required that enables applications to control the hardware in the same way under all operating systems. Without this layer, each application would have to be adapted for different operating systems, which would be a huge effort and therefore only implemented once in Solid - usable for all other applications.

In addition, KDE 4 no longer uses DCOP (Desktop Communication Protocol) for communication between the applications, but the D-Bus developed by the freedesktop.org project . Further innovations are the file browser Dolphin and the universal document viewer Okular , which replaces the previous individual programs KPDF , KGhostview, KView, KFax and KDVI.

The KSpell2 spell checker has also been replaced by the new Sonnet development. In addition to the spell checker, Sonnet also has a grammar checker, translation functions and recognition of the language of a written text. The Sonnet team worked closely with the AbiWord team and, among other things, uses their interface to access various spell checking systems.

The window manager KWin KDE 4 now also called compositing capabilities based on OpenGL or XRender available. Effects such as window shadows and window transparencies were primarily implemented in previous versions through external projects such as Compiz .

KDE 4.1

KDE 4.1 was released on July 29, 2008. The integrated Kontact PIM suite and a new video player, Dragon Player, have also been available since KDE 4.1 .

KDE 4.2

KDE 4.2 was released on January 27, 2009. This release was the first of the current KDE generation designed for normal users.

The plasma surface in particular has undergone extensive changes in this version: the desktop could be switched to a traditional view, sidebars could be hidden, etc.

A number of other new functions have been included, including: a .: PowerDevil (provides functions for energy saving ), other new auxiliary programs, new games and fine-tuning of the known applications such as B. Dolphin.

KDE 4.3

KDE 4.3 was released on August 4th, 2009. Fine-tuning of the existing components was in the foreground with this version and less the introduction of new functions. The few new features include: a. the integration of PolicyKit , NetworkManager and Geolocation, as well as a plasma component for the integration of a social network .

KDE Software Compilation 4.4

Shortly before the release of the first beta version, it was announced that the KDE project had agreed on a new branding strategy. From now on, “KDE” is only the name for the project itself and the program package is called “Software Compilation” ( SC ).

The software Compilation 4.4 was released on February 9, 2010. Some of the new features are:

  • KDE SC 4.4 uses version 4.6 of Qt, which was released on December 1st, 2009.
  • KAddressBook has been replaced by a newly developed application of the same name - formerly called KContactManager provisionally.
  • A special surface for netbooks has been introduced.
  • Kopete was released in version 1.0.
  • KWin now allows entire windows to be arranged in tab groups instead of just being able to display each one individually.

KDE Software Compilation 4.5

The software Compilation 4.5 was released on August 10, 2010. This SC generation focuses on fine-tuning existing features, although some new ones have also been added.

The original plan was to complete the Akonadi porting of KMail and the other Kontact applications and to publish them with the SC 4.5. However, this plan had to be abandoned due to delays which resulted in no 4.5 versions of these applications being released. The 4.4 versions will receive bug fixes until the release of SC 4.6.

KDE Software Compilation 4.6

Version 4.6.0 of the program suite was released on January 26, 2011. Feature development for the 4.6 cycle was completed on November 12, 2010. In this version, special attention is paid to improving the speed. a. some effects that were previously only calculated using the processor (program start display, window geometry display) are also rendered graphics-accelerated using OpenGL .

Workspaces

  • Performance increase and a script interface for KWin
  • Creating plasma widgets using the Qt Meta-Object Language (QML)
  • Completely rewritten power management service
  • A new Bluetooth service, BlueDevil , replaces the previous service
  • The "Newspaper Activities" (widgets are arranged in columns on the desktop) and "Search and Execute" will also be available in the desktop version, known from the Netbook Edition

Applications

  • The route planner functions have been improved.
  • Large parts of Kolf have been rewritten.
  • Kontact is being re-released as part of Software Compilation after not being part of SC 4.5.
  • The system settings will be restructured and ordered more logically

KDE Software Compilation 4.7

KDE SC 4.7.0 was released on July 27, 2011. News from 4.7 include the support of OpenGL ES in the window manager KWin, so that it can also be used on mobile platforms and under Wayland . In addition, the Plasma Activities have been revised and expanded, the Dolphin file manager received a tidier user interface and Marble support for voice output.

KDE Software Compilation 4.8

KDE SC 4.8.0 was released on January 25, 2012. Among other things, the power management has been improved, which now provides ready-made profiles. KWin and Dolphin have been optimized in terms of speed and stability.

KDE Software Compilation 4.9

KDE SC 4.9.0 was released on August 1st, 2012. In addition to numerous bug fixes, a. the activities improved, further plasmoids were ported to QML and comments created in Okular can now be saved in the PDF document.

KDE Software Compilation 4.10

KDE SC 4.10.0 was released on February 6, 2013. In addition to numerous bug fixes, a. the file indexer was rewritten and replaced the Strigi indexer . The print manager has also been rewritten.

KDE Software Compilation 4.11

KDE SC 4.11.0 was released on August 14, 2013. In addition to numerous bug fixes, a. added experimental Wayland support and expanded Kontact applications with new functions. Support for KScreen, which is used to set the monitor configuration, has also been added.

The workspaces will receive two years of support in order to prepare the switch to Qt 5.

KDE Software Compilation 4.12

KDE SC 4.12.0 was released on December 18, 2013. Various KDE applications received a bug fix. The PIM suite received support from Sieve filters to pre-filter e-mails on the server, Okular supports EPUB videos, Kate extends auto-completion. The workspaces, however, as announced for version 4.11, were not changed.

KDE Software Compilation 4.13

Version 4.13 was completed on April 16, 2014. The biggest change in this version is the conversion of the semantic search from Nepomuk to the more resource-efficient Baloo.

KDE Software Compilation 4.14

Version 4.14 was released on August 20, 2014 and represents the last version jump of version 4.

KDE Platform

The foundation of the software compilation is the KDE platform . It includes a number of frameworks , such as B .:

Further platform components are:

plasma

The Plasma Workspaces are also based on a new GUI toolkit , which accesses Qt for many technologies , but provides its own control elements (buttons, scroll bars, etc.). These control elements can also be used by separate programs, as is the case with Amarok from version 2.0, for example. Also KDevelop is a part of plasma technology.

Phonon

Phonon (formerly KDEMM period) is the multimedia - interface of KDE. In addition, Qt Software uses the interface for multimedia functions in the Qt library .

Solid

Solid is the uniform interface and framework for integrating hardware.

task

Solid was introduced to make it easier to deal with hardware, especially with devices that change during operation ( hotplug ), where it is intended to replace the previous makeshift solutions for administration. Furthermore, this abstraction layer makes applications that use it extremely flexible and portable, and simplifies their development; This means that the hardware can also be controlled uniformly under different operating systems, which significantly contributes to the platform independence of KDE SC.

function

Similar to the Phonon multimedia interface , it does not manage the hardware directly itself, but makes existing solutions accessible through a uniform interface. All the underlying parts can be exchanged without disrupting an application.

Solid is divided into various hardware areas, such as Bluetooth or energy management, which work independently of one another and to which more can be added as required.

The current solution uses the hardware abstraction layer of the freedesktop.org project is to connect the Network Manager and BlueZ ( Linux 'official Bluetooth - protocol stack ). Work is also underway on a back-end for the Windows port of KDE SC, which is based on Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).

About libkdehw provides solid information available about changing connections and devices and power management.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ KDE Ships Applications and Platform 4.14.3. kde.org, November 11, 2014, accessed November 12, 2014 .
  2. ↑ Policies / Licensing Policy page at KDE TechBase ; As of January 30, 2012 (English).
  3. ↑ Andrea Müller: KDE 4.0: First beta release appeared. heise.de, August 2, 2007, accessed on January 18, 2014 .
  4. ↑ Sebastian Kügler: The Start of Something Amazing with KDE 4.0 Release. dot.kde.org, January 11, 2008, accessed January 18, 2014 .
  5. ↑ KDE Release Team: KDE 4.0 Release Roadmap , accessed on July 15, 2007 (English).
  6. ^ Jacob Rideout: How Is Sonnet Stacking Up? ( Memento of the original from July 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / jrideout.blogspot.com archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on his blog, December 31, 2006
  7. ↑ KDE 4.1 Release Announcement. kde.org, July 29, 2008, accessed January 7, 2011 .
  8. ↑ Thom Holwerda: KDE 4.2 Released; Short interview: Aaron Seigo. osnews.com, January 27, 2009, accessed January 28, 2009 .
  9. ↑ Bruce Byfield: The KDE 4.3 beta: KDE Returns to Incremental Releases. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on May 23, 2009 ; accessed on January 7, 2011 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / itmanagement.earthweb.com
  10. ↑ Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols: A first look at KDE 4.3. (No longer available online.) August 3, 2009, archived from the original on February 21, 2011 ; accessed on January 7, 2011 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / blogs.computerworld.com
  11. ↑ Sebastian Kügler: Third Plasma Summit Lifts KDE Desktop To Higher Grounds. kdenews.org, September 8, 2009, accessed January 18, 2014 .
  12. ↑ Danny Allen: Issue 147. KDE Commit-Digest, January 25, 2009, accessed January 18, 2014 .
  13. ↑ http://www.notmart.org/index.php/BlaBla/Looking_back_at_Tokamak_3
  14. ^ Matt Rogers: [kopete-devel] KDE / kdenetwork / kopete / libkopete. kde.org, September 6, 2009, accessed February 16, 2014 .
  15. ↑ a b Allen Winter: KDEPIM 4.5 is Dead - Here's to KDEPIM 4.6. (No longer available online.) Blogs.kde.org, November 12, 2010, archived from the original on October 29, 2016 ; accessed on February 16, 2014 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kdedevelopers.org
  16. ↑ KDE Puts You In Control with New Workspaces, Applications and Platform. kde.org, accessed January 20, 2014 .
  17. ↑ Martin Graesslin: Optimization in KWin 4.6. blog.martin-graesslin.com, October 31, 2010, accessed on January 17, 2014 (English).
  18. ↑ Daniel Poelzleithner: KWin scripting tutorial. (No longer available online.) Rohanprabhu.com, January 30, 2011, archived from the original on June 5, 2013 ; accessed on April 2, 2014 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / rohanprabhu.com
  19. ↑ A Declaration of Plasma Love blog article at Tale of a little pixel ; Status: October 17, 2010 (English).
  20. ^ The New KDE Power Management System - fresh from Madrid. drfav.wordpress.com, October 3, 2010, accessed February 16, 2014 .
  21. ↑ Updates from KDE Power Management land: for Users and Developers! drfav.wordpress.com, November 10, 2010, accessed February 16, 2014 .
  22. ↑ Rafael Fernández López: Bluedevil v1.0 is out! blog.ereslibre.es, November 12, 2010, accessed on February 16, 2014 .
  23. ↑ Dennis Nienhüser: Last Months in Marble… (No longer available online.) Nienhueser.de, October 11, 2010, archived from the original on February 21, 2014 ; accessed on February 16, 2014 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / nienhueser.de
  24. ↑ Stefan Majewsky: Kolf: The future begins now. majewsky.wordpress.com, October 31, 2010, accessed February 6, 2014 .
  25. ↑ New KDE Applications, Workspaces and Development Platform Releases Bring New Features, Improve Stability. kde.org, accessed January 20, 2014 .
  26. ↑ Martin Graesslin: Interesting times lie ahead of us. blog.martin-graesslin.com, November 12, 2010, accessed on January 17, 2014 .
  27. ↑ KDE Plasma Workspaces, Applications and Platform 4.8 Improve User Experience. kde.org, accessed January 20, 2014 .
  28. ↑ KDE SC 4.9.0 Info Page. kde.org, accessed February 16, 2014 .
  29. ↑ Sebastian Grüner: Activities become usable. golem.de, August 1, 2012, accessed on August 3, 2012 .
  30. ↑ KDE SC 4.10.0 Info Page. kde.org, accessed February 16, 2014 .
  31. ↑ Anika Kehrer: KDE 4.10: Smarter search, nicer windows, more QML. heise.de, February 6, 2013, accessed on February 7, 2013 .
  32. ↑ KDE Software Compilation 4.11. kde.org, August 14, 2013, accessed January 20, 2014 .
  33. ↑ Liane M. Dubowy: KDE SC 4.11 brings new PIM functions. heise.de, August 15, 2013, accessed on August 19, 2013 .
  34. ↑ KDE Software Compilation 4.12. kde.org, December 18, 2013, accessed January 20, 2014 .
  35. ↑ Andreas Proschofsky: KDE SC 4.12 released. derstandard.at, December 19, 2013, accessed on December 21, 2013 .
  36. ↑ Hans-Joachim Baader: KDE SC 4.12 released. pro-linux.de, December 19, 2013, accessed December 21, 2013 .
  37. ↑ Schedules / KDE4 / 4.13 Release Schedule. kde.org, accessed April 19, 2014 .
  38. ^ Liane M. Dubowy: KDE SC 4.13 with a new semantic search. heise.de, April 22, 2014, accessed on April 22, 2014 .
  39. ↑ Andreas Proschofsky: KDE SC 4.13 brings a new semantic search. derstandard.at, April 17, 2014, accessed on April 22, 2014 .
  40. ↑ Schedules / KDE4 / 4.14 Release Schedule. kde.org, accessed on August 21, 2014 .
  41. ↑ Hans-Joachim Baader: Version 4.14 should bring KDE 4 to a close. golem.de, July 10, 2014, accessed on August 9, 2014 .
  42. ^ Danny Allen: Issue 107. KDE Commit-Digest, April 20, 2008, accessed January 18, 2014 .