KDE 3.3.1 First Impressions

Linux

This is a follow-up to my post last week. KDE just keeps getting
better and better with each new release. I haven’t found anything in
this release that is earth-shattering yet, but this release adds a
heaping helping of bug fixes and usability tweaks that make the
experience that much better.

Highlights include:

  • Konqueror has gotten faster, and the Netscape plugin wrapper appears
    to be performing better. Now I can watch Flash animations without
    the audio stuttering.
  • Kopete now sends messages when you press Enter. (Finally!) Before,
    Enter gave you a newline in the text entry widget, and Ctrl-Enter
    sent your message.
  • Kontact has a new Summary layout.
  • Various crash fixes. Web pages that used to crash Konqueror now
    work, Kontact/Kmail appears to be more stable.

My only complaint is the side-bar media player in Konqueror is still
broken. Any attempt to play a file causes a segfault and the appearance
of the KDE crash dialog.

Overall, a nice improvement to an already great desktop.