DATELINE JUNE 14, 2000
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
KDE Desktop Available for Linux®
Second Beta Preview of Advanced Linux® Desktop
June 14, 2000 (The Internet). The KDE Team
today announced the release of KDE 1.91, codenamed "Kleopatra", the second
beta preview of KDE's next-generation, powerful, modular desktop. Following
on the heels of the release of KDE 1.90 (Konfucious) on May 11, 2000, Kleopatra
is based on
Qt 2.1 and will include
the core libraries, the core desktop environment, the KOffice suite, as
well as most of the other standard base KDE packages: kdeadmin, kdegames,
kdegraphics, kdenetwork, kdemultimedia, kdetoys and kdeutils. Kleopatra
is targeted at
developers and interested
users.
For those compiling from source, please consult the compilation
instructions.
"Kleopatra fixes many of the bugs which helpful users reported in Konfucious,
the previous release," stated David Faure, a core KDE developer. "The core
libraries are now frozen except for critical changes, so developers of
KDE 1 applications can now safely port to KDE 2 without fearing any major
changes in the core libraries."
For the developer, KDE 1.91 provides
a stable API which will enable developers to commence serious development
of their application so they may time the release of their software to
coincide with the release of KDE 2.0, scheduled for September 2000. It
is anticipated that with the exception of aRts, the budding KDE 2.0 real
time multimedia engine, and the KDE style engine,
there will be few binary incompatible and fewer, if any, source incompatible
changes in the core libraries through the 2.0 release. Further development
will focus on finalizing aRts, fixing bugs, complying with the
KDE
Standards and Style Guides and maximizing performance.
Kleopatra offers a large number of major technological improvements
to developers compared to the critically acclaimed KDE 1.x series. Chief
among these are the Desktop COmmunication Protocol (DCOP), the i/o libraries
(KIO), the component object model (KParts), an XML-based GUI class, and
the standards-compliant HTML rendering engine (KHTML).
-
DCOP is a client-to-client communications protocol intermediated
by a server. The protocol supports both message passing and remote procedure
calls. The technology is used in KDE 2.0, for example, to direct application
requests to instances of the application which are already running, thereby
preventing multiple occurrences of the same application from running concurrently.
-
KIO implements i/o in a separate process to permit a
non-blocking GUI. The class is network transparent and hence can be used
seamlessly to access HTTP, FTP, Gopher, POP, IMAP, NFS, SMB, LDAP and local
files. Moreover, its modular and extensible design permits developers to
"drop in" additional protocols, such as WebDAV, which will then automatically
be available to all KDE applications. KIO also implements a trader which
can locate handlers for specified mimetypes; these handlers can then be
embedded within the requesting application using the KParts technology
(described
below).
-
KParts, the KDE component object model, allows one
process to embed another within itself. The technology handles all aspects
of the embedding, such as positioning toolbars and inserting the proper
menus when the embedded component is activated or deactivated. KParts can
also interface with the KIO trader to locate available
handlers for specific mimetypes or services/protocols. This technology
is used extensively by the
KOffice suite and
Konqueror.
-
The XML GUI employs XML to create and position menus,
toolbars and possibly other aspects of the GUI. This technology offers
developers and users the advantage of simplified configurability of these
user interface elements across applications and automatic compliance with
the
KDE Standards
and Style Guide irrespective of modifications to the standards.
-
KHTML is an HTML 4.0 compliant rendering and drawing
engine. The class supports the full gamut of current Internet technologies,
including JavaScriptTM, Java®, HTML 4.0, CSS-2
(Cascading Style Sheets), SSL (Secure Socket Layer for secure communications)
and Netscape Communicator® plugins (for viewing FlashTM,
RealAudioTM, RealVideoTM and similar technologies).
The KHTML class can easily be used by an application as either a widget
(using normal X Window parenting) or as a component (using the KParts
technology). KHTML, in turn, has the capacity to embed components within
itself using the KParts technology.
For the interested user, KDE 1.91 offers a fairly
stable desktop suitable for a non-critical environment. Users who would
like the opportunity to contribute to the further development of KDE can
use this release as a basis for offering suggestions and bug reports, or
those who are curious can evaluate the new frontier of the *nix desktop.
The attractions of Kleopatra to users are manifold and impressive. The
principal benefits to users lie in the cutting-edge technologies provided
by Konqueror, the KOffice
suite, KDE's enhanced customizability, and full Unicode support.
-
Konqueror stands tall as the next-generation web
browser, file manager and document viewer for KDE 2.0. Widely acclaimed
as a technological break-through for the Linux desktop, Konqueror has a
component-based architecture which combines the features and functionality
of Internet Explorer®/Netscape Communicator®
and Windows Explorer®. Konqueror supports all major Internet
technologies supported by KHTML. In addition, Konqueror's
network transparency offers seamless support for browsing Linux®
NFS shares, Windows® SMB shares, HTTP pages, FTP directories
as well as any other protocol for which a KIO plug-in
is available.
-
The KOffice suite, long ago heralded as a
"killer
app", is one of the most-anticipated Open Source projects. The suite
consists of a spreadsheet application (KSpread), a vector drawing application
(KIllustrator), a bitmap drawing application (KImageShop), a frame-based
word-processing application (KWord), a chart and diagram application (KChart).
Native file formats use XML, and work on filters for proprietary binary
file formats is progressing. Combined with a powerful scripting language
and the ability to embed individuals components within each other using
the
KParts technology, the KOffice suite will provide
all the necessary functionality to all but the most demanding power users,
at an unbeatable price -- free.
-
KDE's customizability touches every aspect of this next-generation
desktop. Kleopatra benefits from Qt's style
engine, which permits developers and artists to create their own widget
designs down to the precise appearance of a scrollbar, a button, a menu
and more, combined with development tools which will largely automate the
creation of these widget sets (note that the configuration files for the
style engine will change in an incompatible way prior to the next KDE release
scheduled for June 2000). Just to mention a few of the legion configuration
options, users can choose among: numerous types of menu effects; a menu
bar atop the display (Macintosh®-style) or atop each individual
window (Windows-style); icon styles; system sounds; key bindings; languages;
toolbar and menu composition; and much much more.
-
KDE 2.0 supports Unicode at its very core, the outstanding
Qt toolkit. In addition, KHTML support includes bidirectional scripts,
such as Arabic and Hebrew, and Far Eastern languages (Chinese/Japanese/Korean).
Combined with the 45 separate teams actively translating KDE into other
languages, KDE 2.0 will truly be an international desktop.
WHERE TO DOWNLOAD SOURCE PACKAGES
Kleopatra source packages can be downloaded from: ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/unstable/distribution/2.0Beta2/tar/src/
Or one of its mirror sites.
Kleopatra requires the recently released version 2.1.1 of the Qt toolkit.
The source package of Qt 2.1.1 is available at this location for your
convenience. Please note that this stable version of Qt has been officially released by Trolltech and is not part of the beta testing of KDE 1.91.
Kleopatra does NOT work with older Qt 1.x or Qt 2.0.
In case you have problems downloading the source packages you may have a look here.
If your compilation of the sources does fail at some point please have a look at the Compilation FAQ.
WHERE TO DOWNLOAD BINARY PACKAGES
Kleopatra binary packages will are available from:
ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/unstable/distribution/2.0Beta2/
Currently you can find there rpms for
Caldera 2.4 and SuSE 6.4.
Or one of its mirror sites.
About KDE
KDE is a collaborative project by hundreds of developers worldwide to create
a sophisticated, customizable and stable desktop environment employing
a network-transparent, intuitive user interface. Currently development
is focused on KDE 2, which will for the first time offer a free, Open Source,
fully-featured office suite and which promises to make the Linux desktop
as easy to use as Windows® and the Macintosh®
while remaining loyal to open standards and empowering developers and users
with Open Source software. KDE is working proof of how the Open Source
software development model can create technologies on par with and superior
to even the most complex commercial software.
For more information about KDE, please visit KDE's web
site.
Press Contacts: |
United States: |
Kurt Granroth
granroth@kde.org
(1) 480 732 1752 |
Europe (French and English): |
David Faure
faure@kde.org
(44) 1225 471 300 |
Europe (German and English): |
Martin Konold
konold@kde.org
(49) 179 22 5 22 49 |