Ok, so i'm fairly new to linux in general, ive been using it for about 3 months now, I have it installed on all of my computers and im loving it I am using Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic and I have recently been experimenting with different DE's I have so far tired GNOME, KDE, and XFCE. I have to admit I love the way Gnome works and I love the way it Looks, but I do not like the lack of customization. KDE is starting to grow on me. I have it customized with Docky and I put my panel at the top etc... But now there are 2 things that are make or break for me in KDE.

1. In gnome I have all of my drives(fixed and removable) mounted on my desktop similar to OSX, I can not seem to do this in KDE, and the "device notifier widget" just wont cut-it.

2. I need my "Compiz config Settings Manager" The way Compiz works in KDE seems to be very different than the way it works in gnome, and I dont like it.

Now if I could just figure out how to get the "Ubuntu Software Center" and "synaptic Package Manager" I will more than likely switch. Please help.

Unfortunately 1) is not currently supported by KDE, as a workaround you can add the Device Notifier to the Desktop however.

For 2) you have probably found KWin's effects ( located at System Settings > Desktop > Desktop Effects ). I am not aware of the command needed to launch the Compiz configuration manager, however it can probably be found in the menu. You may wish to change the default window manager setting in System Settings > Default Applications first though.

And Ubuntu Software Center can be obtained via Kickoff Menu>>>System Settings>>>KPackageKit by installing the package 'software-center', the same for Synaptic, just install the package 'synaptic'

Welcome at the forums btw

Ok, well I have gotten all of my questions solved except the drive icons on the desktop. There gotta be some way to do this? Ive been searching for 2 day and cant find anything. I have come to the conclusion that this will probably be solved with a plasmoid. I have tried one I found called mountoid but it didnt react when i inserted a cd/dvd or flash drive.

You want to drag the "Device Notifier" plasmoid to the desktop. That will add a list of removable devices. There is also the device manager plasmoid, but for 4.4 there doesn't seem to be that much of an advantage to it. You can also use lancelot, add the lancelot menu to either your desktop or your panel, go to the "computer" tab, then drag the title of the "removable" section to your desktop. For device notifier, you will be given the option to open the device in an configured application, with the lancelot part it will always open in your default file manager. Which you use depends on which approach you prefer. Either of them can be resized to whatever size you want and placed anywhere you want.

That is one of the advantages of KDE, things like the device notifier that seem designed for the panel usually work just as well on the desktop, and things like folderview that seem designed for the desktop usually work just as well in the panel.

bcooksley wrote:For 2) you have probably found KWin's effects ( located at System Settings > Desktop > Desktop Effects ). I am not aware of the command needed to launch the Compiz configuration manager, however it can probably be found in the menu. You may wish to change the default window manager setting in System Settings > Default Applications first though.

the command it compiz-manager, but KDE uses it's own visual effects, not using Compiz. (does seems to be (strongly) based on Compiz though)

also you can't install compiz-manger without installing compiz, which it not a good idea since it can conflict with KDE's own visual effects (even if not enabled)

foxofinfinety wrote:the command it compiz-manager, but KDE uses it's own visual effects, not using Compiz. (does seems to be (strongly) based on Compiz though)

Only if System Settings > Default Applications > Window Manager is set to KWin. Otherwise the effects are not even loaded, and consequently whatever is set at System Settings > Desktop > Desktop Effects is ignored if the Window Manager is set to, for example, Compiz or Metacity.

foxofinfinety wrote:also you can't install compiz-manger without installing compiz, which it not a good idea since it can conflict with KDE's own visual effects (even if not enabled)

Never experienced that when I've experimented with Compiz (haven't had installed in quite a while though), but it seems unlikely. If just having Compiz installed (without using it) causes problems with KDE's effects - it should be considered a bug.

Besides, it would 100 % useless having just the compiz-manager installed. Without the rest of compiz installed, it does absolutely nothing.