The combination of that, plus the fact that people here whose opinions and evaluations I respect are starting to come around, may be enough to induce me to try KDE4 after all.
I suggest that you try a day in KDE 4, see what features are missing for _you_, then return to the comfort of KDE 3. In the meantime, we'll file bugs on the missing features.
But before I try KDE again, I need to decide for myself if I dare try to combine KDE4 and Gnome on the same install/upgrade, or if I should begin by installing just KDE4 and hoping. Or perhaps even reinstalling KDE4.x into 11.1?
Install them both. There is no sense in suffering a desktop that you don't like after you've identified the missing features and requested them.
When I have a bit of time to sit back and think, I will write you directly to try to summarize any past experiences I had, and to try to understand how or if certain configurations can be achieved in KDE4. Perhaps this will help you to understand what I want to be able to do, as you have asked, and you might be able to clear up some of the issues that I currently have with KDE4.
Great, I'll be here. July is university tests, so I won't be active online that month, however.
But as a quick summary, and in no particular order, I would like to be able to run Compiz with a 2x4 matrix of viewports
I don't use Compiz, so I am unfamiliar with that, but is that related to KDE?
would like to be able to position the panel on any edge, especially as an auto-hiding bottom panel.
That works in KDE 4.2!
And I would like to be able to easily place icons on the desktop(s),
Works in KDE 4.2!
and to see minimized windows as icons/emblems on the panel (only for the viewport I am using at that moment).
As I don't use viewports, I am unfamiliar with this. However, if it is relevant, then the Task Manager has these two options: [] Only show tasks from the current desktop [] Only show tasks from the current screen
And I'd like to be able to retain or easily reconfigure things like my splash screen, background, etc. to remain the same until such time as I want to deal with a different appearance.
No problem there.
And I would like to have more control over restructuring menus via mouse-controlled drag and drop, perhaps into multiple cascading layers, although I have heard that the Evil Empire of Redmond claims to have a patent on this.
Was this a feature in KDE 3? We'll file it for KDE 4.
(Yes, I realize the irony of this, given my general "anti-eye-candy first" stance with respect to KDE4, but this is a wishlist, and that is one of my wishes. But in short, I want to be able to make it look and feel a lot like what I am accustomed to from previously working with Win and OS/2 desktops, in order to make certain common actions behave for me just as they have in the past. I'm not saying 100% compatible, but I don't want someone else making it difficult for me to place icons on the desktop, for example, because someone else thinks that clutters up the user interface and prevents the user from finding and using other new alternatives. And I have seen and read just such statements as justification for pushing out KDE4 early, and for dropping KDE3 support almost immediately.)
No need for excuses! I think that your concerns are very valid, and very relevant.
I need package dependency issues to be minimal, and support for such things as the weather applet,
Check!
PDA support,
This depends on Opensync, which is in a transitionary period at the moment. Opensync 0.22 still works, but 0.42 (the next version meant for end users) is a way's off.
easy setup of default system-wide choices for things like PDF reader, browser, email client, etc.
Check! You will love Okular, the new PDF reader.
Lastly, adverse interactions between programs must be minimal, and key system functions such as YaST must not ever get hosed up by the desktop manager.
That is a Suse issue, I make no promises! -- Dotan Cohen http://what-is-what.com http://gibberish.co.il -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org