Kubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala is really nice

Hi all,

After Ubuntu comes Kubuntu. Considering my lukewarm reaction to Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala, this review ought to be even more interesting, don't you think?

Anyhow, here you go, a long, extensive review of Kubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala, the KDE-based edition of the distribution, including live CD session, installation and post-install setup and configurations, covering topics like Wireless, Bluetooth, Webcam, multimedia playback (Flash, MP3, Windows video), performance and stability, suspend & hibernate on laptops, KDE4 looks and feel, package management, Samba sharing, proxy, some small problems, and more.

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/kubuntu-9-10.html


Cheers,
Mrk

 

interesting review

Kubuntu feels ... wrong (in lack of better word), i rather install ubuntu from minimal cd then install kde-minimal package and build my own KDE distro out from that...

However openSUSE just got released so im eager to test that out

 

Told you so!

kubuntu is really very nice. However, i've now tried kubuntu 9.1, the latest sidux, sabayon 5 and currently having a look at opensuse 11.2 and they're all very similar really. What with them all using kernel 2.6.31, ext4 and kde 4.3 they are pretty much on a par performance wise. I'm sure Mandriva is having the same level of success.

 

Your Kubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala review is really nice. And I agree. Kubuntu may be a little rough around some of the edges, but KDE looks great and feels great especially for those who have been "touched" by Windows, and somehow Canonical managed to do a better job with Kubuntu this time.

 

@Mrkvonic
Glad to read your old passion for KDE is coming back. How's Kubuntu stability wise? I saw in your review that you had a 'plasma-desktop' crash once, did this occur while running the live-cd or an actual install and did you had the proprietary drivers installed?

 

Stable overall. The crash was in live session, if I recall correctly.
As to restricted drivers, none for my old T42 ATI card, which is a shame and something I'm gonna rant about in the future.
Mrk

 

I need to read your review of Ubuntu 9.10 and see what disappointed you about it. Personally, I love it. Kubuntu, on the other hand, just never struck a good chord with me. But, after this review, I might look into it.

 

You know that whole cron/script thing just to switch wallpaper? In KDE, it's a menu option.
KDE is miles away from GNOME, there can be no doubt about that. Looks, ease of use, ideas, design..

 

Yes, it would be nice if Gnome had a built-in option to change backgrounds in a scheduled manner, but the script I posted is only 1.5 KBs in size. Not a bad work around with next to zero resource hogging via cron. Wonder how KDE does it? .

And you're right, KDE is miles away from Gnome...miles behind. .

But seriously, Gnomes looks are a bit dated. The default Gnome layout, at least in Ubuntu, hasn't changed a bit since I started using it 5 years ago. Guess that's why I like Netbook Remix's appearance so much. It's different.

If someone would come out with a Desktop version of Moblin (Debian based, of course) with a little more functionality, I'd be seriously tempted to use it.

Later....

 

It must have been. I don't think I've ever had a live cd session where it didn't crash! It's weird like that. But on a HDD installation it works much, much better.

In general, I'd say Kubuntu Karmic is more stable than Ubuntu Karmic, but the previous version was a little different. KDE seems to be a little less stable than Gnome in my experience (YMMV and probably does) but a lot more fun to look at.

 

imho KDE has been a bit unstable until the 4.3 release, now i haven't got any crashes. While gnome maybe was more stable before i think they just as equal stable now. Wait and see when gnome3 comes