I just downloaded and installed KDE 4.2 on linux mint 6 and it does look nice but i still think some of the interface choices are dumb. for example, it seems that your desktop is no longer your desktop its just a wallpaper that you have to place plasmoids on to get it to do anything.

as soon as i logged in i saw this big ugly translucent container on my "desktop" that contained a file that i had previously saved to /home/bran/Desktop, so i closed it and noticed that once again you have to go to great lengths in kde 4 to do something that was extremely simple in kde 3.5, such as creating a shortcut on the desktop.

what is the logical reason for changing the way kde's desktop acts? as far as i can tell there isnt one.

please tell me that there is a way to place icons on the desktop (like you can do with every other WM, except for kde 4.2 it seems) and not in big ugly containers. if this is what kde 4 is becoming im sorry to say i will never use it.

Right click -> Appearance Settings, change "Desktop type" to Folderview.

If you use the default desktop you can create shortcut widgets by drag and drop (from Dolphin, Kickoff etc.).

if you hadnt posted anything i was going to say that i figured the icon problem out but was wondering how to get rid of the ugly black bar when i mouse over something. i changed it to desktop mode and im a lot happier with it now, thanks.

edit: this new k menu takes some getting used to, is there a way to have it automatically open to programs instead of favourites?

If you are not happy with the menu you can also right-click on it and choose to switch to the classic menu style.

Or try Lancelot.

As far as I know, there is no easy way to let Kickoff (the default menu) open another tab than Favorites by default. However, if it isn't already set, you can make the tabs to switch on hover (again, right click -> Application Launcher Settings).

Is the ugly black bar the thing that appears when you hover near a Plasmoid? If so, then you can lock your desktop ( Upper right corner > Lock Desktop ) to stop this from happening. Note that this will prevent you from adding / removing / resizing plasmoids.