Plasma 5

[Rob Merritt]

Hi!

Well, I just want to start by saying that I really am thoroughly blown away by the direction that KDE has taken. I use a variety of OS's for my day to day needs, but for my main laptop I use OS X. I have been waiting a long time to find a reason to move this machine to Linux - and I think I've just found it!

I would like to mention that I do not use OS X because I am an Apple fanboy, but rather that I really do like the look and feel of their desktop OS, and the solid core on which it is built. I don't, however, like their hardware pricing (so my laptop is a hackintosh) and then there's the whole trend setting that they do and the non-open source etc.. For these reasons and more I am extremely excited to see the latest KDE developments. 

For my boxes that require a desktop, and indeed most of the workstations, I normally choose XFCE. This was all because the guys at Gnome decided to totally screw up something good. Way back when, I used to use Gnome 2 as my desktop at home too, but found it a bit plain. As for the new Gnome, I dislike Gnome 3 and Unity IMMENSELY. They've got it all wrong and there's no amount of 'giving it a fair crack' that seems to work for me. To make matters worse, Gnome 2's forks are not where I want them to be and by the time they are, the desktops as we know them today may well have moved on again. That brings me back to XFCE and with XFCE, theming and tweaks can just never quite hit the spot. I find desktops environments like openbox/fluxbox WAY too minimal and a step backward IMO even when a low powered desktop is needed. I had tried KDE 4 for home use in the past, but found it's plasma too thirsty and glossy - like Windows Vista. A shame because it was (and KDE has always been) very configurable and enabling to the user. So, roll in plasma 5 :-) thank you guys! 

This is looking absolutely amazing. I can't wait until this has had the initial kinks ironed out and I can jump ship. It's looking suitable similar to the Mac desktop without the nasty price tag and Apple and their ethics! :-) the main things that attract me to the Mac desktop are the look and feel, icons, smooth actions and the spotlight search these look like they're pretty much sorted (I use the dashboard on a Mac also which I think I did see something like it too?). - it would be good to see something similar to quicklook (call it peek?) and also the dock if at all possible. Anyway, apart from that it's really looking good. I love the login screen, icons, themes, layout, widgets, ability to customise, new reduced gloss (but just enough!), search feature, menu, everything! Even the little battery and wifi icons look as they should OTB.

Right. I think that's successfully conveyed how pleased as punch I am, so I'll shut up now. ;-)

See ya, and keep it coming!!

Rob