[Bug 165781] I am unable to do any of the exciting things Arron and other s blogs lead me to believe is in KDE 4

[Aaron J.Seigo]

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http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=165781         




------- Additional Comments From aseigo kde org  2008-07-06 09:55 -------
> I have new computer users who are completly bewildered by it

interesting. what sort of deployment/environment is it that these new computer users are using kde4 in?

> I can't do anything useful with it, it either sits on my desktop, bigger
> or smaller, taking up space.

click the close button (it looks like an 'x', it's right near the spanner/wrench button).

> I get tha functionality alreadey in 3.5.9, and I don't 
> have to have this giant icon sitting on my desktop. 

yes, there are lots of features in plasma that were also in kicker. would you prefer there weren't any similarities? of course not. this is a very silly complaint if you ask me. and you may, or may not, have noticed by those clocks are what appear in the panel. the panel and the desktop are all plasma in kde4.

without those clocks, you wouldn't have one in your panel (assuming you do have one there, of course).

there are a few dozen other native plasma widgets available for use, as well, some of which have no analog in kde3.

> And then there's this Zoom In/Zoom Out thing at the top right hand
> corner that makes the desktop wallpaper bigger and smaller, what's the
> point of that? 

http://aseigo.blogspot.com/2007/07/desktop-zooming.html
http://techbase.kde.org/Projects/Plasma/FAQ#What_is_the_Zooming_User_Interface_.28ZUI.29.3F

> I read in your blog that one could configure these icons things, these
> plasmoids in such a way that one could, for example have different
> desktops kitted out in different ways.

plasma offers Activities that let you group different sets of widgets around, yes. and people use it quite successfully; we get fan mail about it on a fairly regular basis these days even.

right now every virtual desktop shows the same activity (so it's one activity at a time)

in 4.2 we'll be bringing the option of associating activities with different desktops (so it's 1..N activities at a time, where N is the number of virtual desktops).

the rest of the Activities are available by zooming out and selecting one of them.

and that is, actually, what i've said in blog. precisely.

> If there is any new functionality, it is so well
> hidden I can't find it,

i suppose what you mean to say is that you can't find any new functionality that you care about.

svg theming, scripting, folderview, widgets for things like twitter, integrated superkaramba and macos x dashboard, the ZUI, multiple activities, the new device mounter, the panel configuration, picture frames and sticky notes and .. these are all things i find useful myself.

we first concentrated on building a framework underneath, then replicating the traditional components on top of it (to appease existing users) and have spent the remaining time working on new things.

as we achieve feature parity with the traditional desktop experience, you'll begin to see more and more of the new framework capabilities emerge.

the fact that we have, with a few exceptions, reached feature parity of kde3's kdesktop, run command dialog and kicker in ~1 year with a from-scratch effort says a lot about the framework underneath it. in one sense, i'm pretty proud that you look at it and go "so?" because it says we've done a good job with making it possible for people used to 3.x feel at home.

but its certainly not the only possible way of using plasma. many use it radically different already, and we'll be bringing more possibilities to the table as things grow.

so i'd like to humbly suggest that your attitude in this bug report has been .. well ... deplorable. i've been patient to this point, and i'd prefer to not have to continue exercising restraint in the face of such blather.

> they find the Kickoff menu frustrating and obscure.
> They can see where things are on the Classic menu.

let me humbly suggest that you give them the Classic menu then. that's why it's there: for those who prefer it. kickoff actually tests very well with a broad segment of users, particularly non-sophisticated or new users. but use whatever you like.

> Imagine what
> they will do when presented with a giant icon that has a popout side
> that sometime displays image buttons on one side and sometimes another,
> that sometimes disappears when you mouse over it. 

i don't have to imagine. i've watched people use it. i've tested the ui on people as we go along. most people aren't exactly stupid, and for those who can't figure it out we'll have documentation for them to read.

btw, most people figure out why the handle appears on one side or the other. it's actually pretty obvious if you sit and think about it for a moment. (note where the widget is when the buttons appear on the right instead of the left)

> and as it stands I see nothing about KDE 4 that
> makes it any more desirable or usable than 3.5.9.

that's certainly a conclusion you can choose to arrive it if you wish. in fact, i invite you to use 3.5.9.