My experience with KDE 4.2 was pleasant up to the point of setting up the printer (Brother MFC-490CW). The problem arose after confirming the drivers were installed & cups recognized the printer but, for an unknown reason, KDE returned the printer's status as 'idle' or 'not available'. I cannot determine if the problem was on 'Arch Linux' side or KDE. Yes.. I blacklisted the usb (MODULES)in /etc/rc.conf. Still... no results.

After a day and a half I was tired and determined it was best to fallback to Windows-Vista/64(Business).

I believe my next attempt will be accomplished after installing Oracle's VMware (set-up a virtual machine with Windows as my primary O/S) and then proceed to either Debian 5.0 or Slackware 13.

I understand a majortiy of the PC's run some form a Windows O/S & it's not difficult to understand why it became No. 1, for this is a fact. The Redmond Wash. Co. makes virtually everthing operational with a few 'clicks' of the mouse.

Don't think I've given up on the Linux O/S. I will take another crack at it in the near future.

John T.

Did you try printing a test page in cups?

I'm pretty certain that that is the printer my daughter uses - a scanner-printer, isn't it? She uses Mandriva and prints without problems. She does, however, have the drivers supplied by Brother for the purpose - and IIRC, there is a separate driver for interacting with the GIMP.