KDE 4.0 Beta 1 Released, Codename "Cnuth"

[kisinkiet]

The KDE Community is happy to announce the first Beta release for KDE 4.0 is available now. This release marks the beginning of the integration process which will bring the powerful new technologies included in the now frozen KDE 4 libraries to the applications. Simultaneously KOffice have released the second Alpha of KOffice version 2. Highlights are improved text rendering and layout and the new Flake library. Read on for more details.

Almost two months after the foundations of KDE 4 have been laid with the first Alpha, KDE enters the stage of a full freeze of the library interface. From now on, the applications will focus on integrating the new technology refined during the last months, and the library developers will try to fix all bugs found during this process. No new applications will enter the official KDE modules and usability and accessibility work is an ongoing process. In the following weeks, KDE developers will be able to add features to their applications until the next Beta is released and the application features will be frozen as well.
The info page has the download links, including packages for Kubuntu, Mandriva and openSUSE.

[kisinkiet]

The KDE Community proudly presents the second Beta release for KDE 4.0. This release marks the beginning of the feature freeze and the stabilization of the current codebase. Simultaneously the KOffice developers have announced their third Alpha release, marking significant improvements in this innovative office suite. Both KDE and KOffice have benefited from the Google Summer of Code, as most resulting code has now been merged. Read on for more details.

Since the libraries were frozen with the first beta, KDE developers have been adding features and functionality to their applications. Now it is time to start polishing these features; writing and translating documentation, improving the usability, and completing the artwork. As KDE 4.0 is feature-frozen now and going full on into bugfixing mode, major ideas and changes will be held off until KDE 4.1. However, some KDE components, such as Plasma, are exempt from this freeze and will still see significant improvements.
The info page has more information, including information on how to obtain KDE 4.0 Beta 2.
Packages are available for Kubuntu, Mandriva and openSUSE.

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KDE 4.0 Release Schedule Revised
KDE Official News Posted by Sebastian Kügler on Friday 07/Sep/2007, @03:20
from the release-team dept.

The KDE Release Team has revised the release schedule for KDE 4.0. The first visible bits of KDE 4.0 will be the KDE Development Platform release on October, 30. This Development Platform release consists of bits and pieces needed to develop KDE applications. It includes kdesupport, kdelibs, kdepimlibs and kdebase/runtime. The purpose of the KDE Development Platform release is to make it easier for third party developers to port their applications to KDE4 technology and to start developing new applications. The final and long awaited release of the KDE Desktop 4.0 is planned for December, 11th 2007, well in time to be a Christmas present for everyone who has been longing for KDE 4.0.

The revised release schedule looks like this:
October, 2nd: KDE 4.0 Beta 3
October, 19th: Total Release Freeze, only critical bugfixes are allowed to get in. If in doubt, ask the release coordinator.
October, 30th: KDE 4.0 Release Candidate 1
November, 14th: KDE 4.0 Release Candidate 2
December, 11th: KDE 4.0
Tagging of those releases takes place on the Wednesday before the release, so if you are a developer, make sure to have your code in by the following dates:
September, 26th: Tagging Beta3
October, 19th: Total Release Freeze, critical bugfixes only from this date
October, 24th: Tagging RC1
November, 14th: Tagging RC2
December, 5th: Tagging 4.0
The Release Team would like to stress that developers should be in 'release mode' by now, concentrating on making KDE4 usable as quickly as possible. Start using the current SVN version and help us fixing bugs.

[Head_Monkey]

I never got into KDE as a desktop. I always preferred gnome or the really old (and defunct) solaris CDE.

[kisinkiet]

well, I ran KDE for 4 years, then gnome for 6 monthes. I just switched back to KDE 2 weeks ago. I like it more