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After having installed Kubuntu 12.04 I immediately added the Kubuntu PPA for KDE 4.9 which I installed as well. I wish I had not done that. I have now installed Kubuntu again and remain with KDE 4.8, which, I believe, is so much better and easier to work with.

My complaints about KDE 4.9 are:
Unstable: every now and then I get a message that some program has crashed and if I want to file a bug report. I tried, but even the bug report program crashed on me. Crashed programs are (among others): Jocky, Grsync (more than once). I do want to help and file a bug report, but it should not be the main reason for using the computer. With all the crashing programs it is.
Dolphin: no re-sizable icons in the side-panel anymore. Instead there some tiny icons which are hardly noticeable. These icons represents complete disks and should be shown big.
Dolphin: no separate window for changing names of files and folders. Instead, just as in all other DE's it is now inline changing of names.
Konqueror: Instead of using Dolphin I thought to use Konqueror as file-manager. I can not, however, set it up the way I want to. The program always starts in the Web Browsing profile, leaving the side panel away. I want it to start as File Manager with a visible side panel. I changed the shortcut to open Konqueror but then it does not start at all. When I switch the side-panel on I see that all entries are visible. I untick that option, but the next time it is on again, so I see disks appearing double in the panel. (for example one time as Root and one time as 14.5GB disk)

Why did things change which should not have been changed? Why not concentrating on important issues like stability and speed when releasing a new version? Why removing something good and replace it with something bad? Why not give a choice to users? What happened with: Linux is all about making choices? Last year I moved from Gnome to KDE because I feel that Gnome has killed Gnome. Now I get a feeling KDE is doing the same. Please don't.

I will stick with 4.8, yes this is my choice although it is not a voluntary one, until 4.9 is the way I like to see it. If that will not happen and 4.8 is no longer usable then it is bye bye KDE.

Hm, why this topic is in the Brainstorm category?

However, I never experienced any of your issues mentioned above with KDE SC 4.9. Contrariwise, this release is one of the stablest so far. Yes, there are some noticable changes in Dolphin but they are just minor tweaks, not all.

Your crashes sounds more like packaging related issue or config mess after upgrade. Please note that PPAs can be sometimes very unstable or even broken, because packages are not fully tested.

I would suggest you to make new user and test your workspace with fresh configs.

DeMus wrote:My complaints about KDE 4.9 are:
Unstable: every now and then I get a message that some program has crashed and if I want to file a bug report. I tried, but even the bug report program crashed on me. Crashed programs are (among others): Jocky, Grsync (more than once). I do want to help and file a bug report, but it should not be the main reason for using the computer. With all the crashing programs it is.

At least those apps you name, are not KDE, so don't know what exactly this has to do with KDE 4.9

Dolphin: no separate window for changing names of files and folders. Instead, just as in all other DE's it is now inline changing of names..

https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=304627

Konqueror: Instead of using Dolphin I thought to use Konqueror as file-manager. I can not, however, set it up the way I want to. The program always starts in the Web Browsing profile, leaving the side panel away. I want it to start as File Manager with a visible side panel. I changed the shortcut to open Konqueror but then it does not start at all.

Works fine here. You can also add 'Konqueror Profiles' widget, so you can select with which you won't to start.

When I switch the side-panel on I see that all entries are visible. I untick that option, but the next time it is on again, so I see disks appearing double in the panel. (for example one time as Root and one time as 14.5GB disk)

True. Didn't searched for a bug report.

Why did things change which should not have been changed? Why not concentrating on important issues like stability and speed when releasing a new version? Why removing something good and replace it with something bad? Why not give a choice to users? What happened with: Linux is all about making choices? Last year I moved from Gnome to KDE because I feel that Gnome has killed Gnome. Now I get a feeling KDE is doing the same. Please don't.

I agree with sshfox, that i also consider 4.9 one of the most stablest and snapiest releases so far.

In fairness to the OP she states recent convert to KDE (Kubuntu 12.04) in case that was missed but regardless makes some good points...
Last time I checked jockey is installed by default in Kubuntu 12.04, while the "KNetAttach has closed unexpectedly" message has become a regular complaint of many users. The fact that the crash report system is disabled/broken? also doesn't help. A quick look at Kubuntuforums.net seems to show users generally having more issues with the kubuntu backports ppa and 4.9 upgrade than stock 4.8. No slight intended whatsoever here, just not everyone is rosy and bug free by any stretch as was implied here. Meaning KDE 4.9 experiences are NOT all created equal

On the KDE side the recent change to in-line naming seems to be less popular than was first thought with the developer saying;

It seems that there is some demand for non-inline renaming, so I'm not against bringing it back

That quote came from the link that was so kindly posted above. Many thanks.
Regarding the panel icons no longer scaling this too was a recent change also not without its critics.
The icon size can however be increased via systemsettings > application appearance > icons, and selecting the Advanced tab. Changing the size of 'Small Icons' to 22 suffices here, but still without scaling of course. Hopefully this helps.

To the OP, I encourage you to continue to make your thoughts on KDE known, ask questions here on these forums and file bugs where you can.
I'm sure everyone here wants to keep you as a KDE user.

When I had Kubuntu 12.04 installed with the Kubuntu Backport PPA on and upgraded to 4.9, I was happy it was pretty stable to me. No real issues to report.