I'm running Kubuntu Jaunty, and for the first time I'm finding KDE4 pleasant and usable. The performance seems to have improved quite nicely on this machine over just a couple of weeks ago, and the quick access widget has vastly improved... well, quick access.

KDE 4 has been coming on like a freight train, and I've felt the need to confront that. I've installed every version of KDE4, trying to get it to work for me, and I've found it extremely frustrating, and I've expressed my frustration directly, to the point where some people seem to think that I'm crazy or perverse or downright evil. And maybe I am, but what I am not is frustrated. Not any more. I'm not saying that KDE4 is my favorite KDE, OR that it's what I'm going to be using from now on. I haven't decided yet. But I am using it now, and I've used it for several days. So I'm satisfied that this time, it isn't wishful thinking. I'm finding it very comfortable and workable. It's a huge relief. I don't have to be afraid of this anymore.

So I expect to be acting more like a normal person in the future. I think congratulations are due all around. Perhaps I should apologize for being so crazy, but I'd rather express my gratitude to this community for putting up with me. I've really tried to show that my heart is in the right place. And I will continue to do so in the future, perhaps a klittle more convincingly.

I am pleased to hear that you like KDE 4. As you might already know, Kubuntu Jaunty ships with the first KDE 4 suitable for the general public (4.2.x). The releases before that were for early adopters (4.1) or developers (4.0). So it would come as no surprise that those did not suit everyone's need.

Regarding your criticism, I haven't read it fully, but is an apology necessary? You are entitled to your own opinion and you are (and were) not entirely negative: [KDE 4] is "a disaster in progress". This implies that there is light at the end of the tunnel and the 4.2 release proves it. While I admit it is far from perfect, it is much better than the previous iterations. It is amazing what KDE developers can accomplish in a short period of time.

Like I said, I don't feel like I should apologize. I came by my frustration honestly, and if reading my posts was painful to anyone, I promise you, I was in so much more pain. But I want to appreciate and acknowledge the wisdom of the community. Instead of apologies, I owe you my thanks. I had to work through it, and you just LET ME. And I came out the other side.

I've always said that was a worthwhile project and that KDE was doing good work, even when I couldn't make it work for me... ah, but making it work for me is so much nicer!

I'm not sure that this supercedes KDE3, but maybe it will, with a little more development in the folderview. KDE3 has the best drag-and-drop I've ever seen, and I don't want to see that lost. Drag and drop is basic GUI stuff, and nobody does that better. You drag and drop an object with Gnome, and it moves the object by default, and if it can't move it, it copies the object. KDE always asks you... move? Copy? Link? So you can do all of these things, all the time. It is so much more powerful. Whichever KDE I adopt for now, I'm gonna keep testing You can really get in there and push the data around. You can create links on your desktop so fast, JUST BOOM BOOM BOOM, so fast that you can set up links on your desktop just for what you're doing at that moment, and then, when you're done, you can clear them away. So your desktop stays clean. This is a new concept for me, creating temporary links on the desktop.

Also, I love being able to set an image as a background just by dragging and dropping it to the desktop. No special dialgoue to open, just pluck it out of konqueror and lay it down.

And gosh I still love using Konqueror as a file manager that doesn't need a profile in order to work. I mean, Dolphin is awesome. Konqueror fans ought to know by now that it's an extension of Konqueror, not a repudiation. It's a worthy successor, like Michael Douglas... but Konqueror is Kirk Douglas.

Whatever KDE I choose, I will continue to test new releases, and offer criticism. With a sense of humor.

KDE is not only the best desktop environment out there. It's also the second best.