Software Compilation 4.4 RC3 Release Announcement

Monday, 1 February 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KDE Software Compilation 4.4 RC3 Out Now: Codename "Coming Closer"

KDE Ships Third Release Candidate of New 4.4 Desktop, Applications and Development Platform

Today, KDE has released the third release candidate of the next version of the KDE Software Compilation (KDE SC). KDE SC 4.4 Release Candidate 3 provides a testing base for identifying bugs in the upcoming KDE Software Compilation 4.4, with its components the KDE Plasma Workspaces, the Applications powered by KDE, and the KDE Development Platform.
The list of changes between 4.3 and 4.4 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 SC 4.4.0. 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 new features one can expect from the new KDE Software Compilation 4.4, there is also a longer list of the changes. The long list of changes also comes with an even longer list of smaller and bigger bugfixes and performance enhancements which lead to a noticable improvement of the user experience.

While RC2 was initially planned as the last release candidate, the number of fixes since RC2 warrants another release candidate.

Dolphin and System Settings in 4.4

To find out more about the KDE SC 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 these releases. KDE SC 4.4 RC3 is not stable software, as such, it is not suitable for everyday or production use. KDE SC 4.4 RC3 is aimed at testers and those who would like to have an early look at the next KDE SC release.
This release candidate will be followed up by the release of KDE SC 4.4.0 on February, 9th 2010. After that, KDE will supply the usual monthly bugfix and translation updates to provide further polish and fixes.

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 download.kde.org and can also be obtained on CD-ROM or with any of the major GNU/Linux and UNIX systems shipping today.

Improved System Tray 4.4

New in 4.4: Blogilo Blogging Client

Installing KDE SC 4.4 RC3 Binary Packages

Packagers. Some Linux/UNIX OS vendors have kindly provided binary packages of KDE SC 4.4 RC3 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 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 RC3 Info Page.

Compiling KDE SC 4.4 RC3 (a.k.a 4.3.98)

The complete source code for KDE SC 4.4 RC3 may be freely downloaded. Instructions on compiling and installing KDE SC 4.4 RC3 are available from the KDE SC 4.3.98 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.

About KDE

KDE is an international technology team that creates free and open source software for desktop and portable computing. Among KDE's products are a modern desktop system for Linux and UNIX platforms, comprehensive office productivity and groupware suites and hundreds of software titles in many categories including Internet and web applications, multimedia, entertainment, educational, graphics and software development. KDE software is translated into more than 60 languages and is built with ease of use and modern accessibility principles in mind. KDE's full-featured applications run natively on Linux, BSD, Windows, Haiku, and macOS.

Trademark Notices.

KDE^® and the K Desktop Environment^® logo are registered trademarks of KDE e.V..
Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United States and other countries.
All other trademarks and copyrights referred to in this announcement are the property of their respective owners.

Press Contacts

For more information send us an email: press@kde.org