Linux Magazine: First Look: KDE 2.0 | Linux Today

Linux Magazine: First Look: KDE 2.0

Written By
Web Webster
Web Webster
Jul 18, 2000

[ Thanks to Robert
McMillan
for this link. ]

The big headline grabber of KDE 2.0 is, of course,
Konqueror, its file manager that replaces kfm. While KDE’s old file
manager was serviceable, most people wouldn’t consider it a
full-featured file manager by any stretch of the imagination.

That situation will change with the arrival of Konqueror. As you
can see in the sidebar above, Konqueror is a more complex program,
which is readily apparent if you use both a separate tree pane and
a tree view of your files, as I do. The more streamlined,
icon-centric display option is still available, of course.”

“The most obvious change from KDE 1.x’s kfm is the disappearance
of the Macintosh-style toggles on the directory tree in favor of
the more Windows-like dotted lines and plus signs. But Konqueror
also supports extensive file viewing (for example, click on
/etc/X11/XF86Config and by default it appears directly in
Konqueror’s file pane instead of being launched in an editor), as
well as enhanced browsing, in the normal Web sense. Another overdue
enhancement is the ability to sort a list of files simply by
clicking on the header for the chosen field….”

“Ironically, one of the changes to KDE that’s most
representative of the feel of the entire release isn’t in one of
the flashier GUI components, but in konsole, the lowly
command-shell utility. In the current version of KDE, konsole opens
a resizable window and presents you with a shell prompt, which
works fine. It also gives you the options of opening additional
shell sessions in the same window and switching between them via a
menu, and starting a new session with Midnight Commander preloaded.
In the new release, konsole has added a set of buttons along the
bottom edge of its window that you can use to click between the
shells you have started in that window. See Figure Two for an
example. You can even name the sessions, instead of having to
remember which “Shell” entry on the Session menu was which. Other
new options let you run the konsole window full screen, or send
specific signals to the program in the currently active session,
including the ever-popular KILL. These konsole tweaks don’t sound
like much, especially compared to all the major changes appearing
in Linux and its graphical interfaces, but they’re the kind of
features you can get very used to.”

Complete
Story

Web Webster

Web Webster

Web Webster has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience in the tech sector. He’s written and edited news, demand generation, user-focused, and thought leadership content for business software solutions, consumer tech, and Linux Today, he edits and writes for a portfolio of tech industry news and analysis websites including webopedia.com, and DatabaseJournal.com.

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