FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KDE Software Compilation 4.4-beta1 Out Now: Codename "Kompilation"

KDE Ships First Preview of New 4.4 Desktop, Applications and Development Platform

December 4rd, 2009. Today, KDE has released a first preview the KDE Software Compilation (KDE SC), 4.4 Beta1 The first beta version of KDE SC 4.4 provides a preview and base for helping to stabilize the next version of the KDE Desktop, Applications and Development Platform.
The list of changes this time around is especially long. Important changes can be observed all over the place:

The Nepomuk Semantic Search framework has made leaps: A new storage backend makes it a lot faster, new user interfaces to interact with the Nepomuk database are first delivered with KDE 4.4.0 and a timeline view of your files makes finding files used in the past easier.
The Plasma Desktop has been further polished. Many user interface elements have received attention by developers and designers. The new widget explorer provides a richer experience for managing desktop widgets. Plasma widgets can now be shared with other users over the network and the handling of storage devices in the desktop shell has been streamlined. Also, in 4.4 Plasma's little sibling, the Netbook shell debuts as a technology preview.
New applications on the horizon range from Blogilo, a rich-client blogging tool to Cantor and Rocs, two scientific applications for advanced math and graph theory needs. Many other applications, such as the Gwenview image viewer and the Dolpin file manager have been further improved.
The KDE Development Platform adds the new KAuth authorization framework for easy and secure privilege escalation, printing of odd and even pages, scanner support for the Windows platform and the first pieces of integration of the popular webkit rendering engine.

These are only some of the changes one can expect from the new KDE Software Compilation 4.4, there is also a longer list of the changes.

Dolphin and System Settings in 4.4

To find out more about the KDE 4.4 desktop and applications, please also refer to the KDE 4.3.0, KDE 4.2.0, KDE 4.1.0 and KDE 4.0.0 release notes, as KDE SC 4.4 is the next evolutionary step on top of the releases. KDE SC 4.4 Beta1 is not stable software, as such, it is not suitable for everyday or production use. KDE SC 4.4 Beta1 is aimed at testers and those who would like to have an early look at the next KDE SC release.

KDE, including all its libraries and its applications, is available for free under Open Source licenses. KDE can be obtained in source and various binary formats from http://download.kde.org and can also be obtained on CD-ROM or with any of the major GNU/Linux and UNIX systems shipping today.

Known Problems

As this is a beta release, bugs in the codebase are inevitable. Known bugs at the time of release include KOrganizer not starting up and compositing support in the window manager being disabled on some hardware. The KDE team is looking into those problems and expects to have them fixed shortly.

Improved System Tray 4.4

New in 4.4: Blogilo Blogging Client

Installing KDE SC 4.4 Beta1 Binary Packages

Packagers. Some Linux/UNIX OS vendors have kindly provided binary packages of KDE SC 4.4 Beta1 for some versions of their distribution, and in other cases community volunteers have done so. Some of these binary packages are available for free download from KDE's http://download.kde.org. Additional binary packages, as well as updates to the packages now available, may become available over the coming weeks.

Package Locations. For a current list of available binary packages of which the KDE Project has been informed, please visit the KDE SC 4.4 Beta1 Info Page.

Compiling KDE SC 4.4 Beta1 (a.k.a 4.3.80)

The complete source code for KDE SC 4.4 Beta1 may be freely downloaded. Instructions on compiling and installing KDE SC 4.4 Beta1 are available from the KDE SC 4.3.80 Info Page.

Supporting KDE

KDE is a Free Software community that exists and grows only because of the help of many volunteers that donate their time and effort. KDE is always looking for new volunteers and contributions, whether it is help with coding, bug fixing or reporting, writing documentation, translations, promotion, money, etc. All contributions are gratefully appreciated and eagerly accepted. Please read through the Supporting KDE page for further information.