This page shows various screenshots of KDE2.0 in action. Both old favorites
and new applications are demonstrated. There are also many other applications
contributed by both the free software community and commercial Unix/Linux distributors
that will be updated for KDE2.0.
Large parts of KDE2.0 have been designed from scratch in order to provide users with the most advanced browser and component-centric desktop as possible. It's virtually impossible for me to go over all the features in such a small space, but I'll try to go over the big stuff ;-) If your interested in more information about the KDE browser and HTML support please visit Konqueror's web site. You'll find more information there about things such as Konquer's full Unicode support, CSS status, making a browser component, etc...
Extensive web plugins and components
KDE easily boasts the most robust and comprehensive component model available for Linux/Unix. Almost all of KDE is now centered around the KDE component model, KParts, and this allows many features previously only available as standalone applications now to be utilized transparently over the internet from the KDE browser. This includes Postscript and PDF viewing, image viewing and editing, text editing, and all of the KOffice productivity suite. Very cool, and once you used it you really get an idea of how far KDE2 has come along in it's goal of bringing Unix to the desktop. Users are always amazed that not only is a component based desktop something were talking about, we have already done it and it works! :) See the KOffice section for more examples of KDE's component technology.
Previewing KOffice spreadsheet from the browser
Viewing online Postscript and PDF files from the browser
Another cool feature of the KDE browser is that it can also handle plugins for other applications - most notably Netscape. Netscape plugins such as Flash are utilized all over the net and support is essential for a pleasurable browsing experience. KDE automatically detects and utilizes all available Netscape plugins transparently with no user intervention.
Playing the Flash game "Moorhuhnjagd" in Konqueror. Screenshot provided by Stefan Schimanski (I don't have the game).
Here's a few misc. screenshots - one showing off Konqueror's full bidirectional text capabilities and another showing off CSS.
Java support
KDE has full java support and can take advantage of the wide variety of Java Virtual Machines available for Linux/Unix including Blackdown's offical Java port and Kaffe. Here are some screenshots of running Java applets in Konqueror:
The "knoxS" 3D demo The tic-tac-toe game demo
The molecule demo An online glossary applet
JavaScript Support
The release version of KDE2 will also feature full JavaScript support so all those little animated JavaScript applets will work ;-) Here is a screenshot of a JavaScript calculator I found. Note how the buttons match my current KDE theme.
File management
Of course, web browsing is only half of what modern browsers can do. The most modern desktop systems also integrate file managment as well. Konqueror features unparalleled file management as well as web browsing capabilities. Konqueror currently supports such things as integrated command line support, many various look 'n feel modes for presenting files, image thumbnails, multiple user-defined frames, and extended HTML for directory presentation - just to name a few features. Konqueror already has more features than what many dedicated file managers intend to do in the future! And of course, Konqueror's file management is fully integrated with all other KDE apps including mimetype based program execution, Drag 'n drop, URL copying, etc...
Here are a few of the many ways you can manage files with Konqueror:
Large icon file mode
Directory tree mode
Multiple frames with a directory tree, file view, and local HTML page all being viewed.
File list mode for easily viewing attributes
Image thumbnail mode (and for a little shot of the Pixie thumnail manager - which completely interoperates with the file manager).
Inline terminal mode. This is rather neat as you can use the arrow buttons to do things like change directories and bookmark your cwd :-)
Along with all the other things people expect in a major KDE release, KDE2.0 will come with a free office aimed at making real world business users immediately productive on Unix and Linux based systems. With about a quarter of a million lines of efficient code already written, KOffice is by far the most developed free office suite. Combined with KDE2 this provides everything needed to bring the *nix's to the desktop.
KWord - Word processing w/ KDE
KPresenter - KDE's presentation package
KSpread/KChart - KDE's answer to spreadsheets and business charts.
Application interoperability and components
The KDE office's component model is based on KParts and already offers full document embedding for not only all of the KOffice applications, but internet transparent embedding of KOffice documents with things such as the KDE browser (as shown in the Konqueror section). Again, the maturity and flexibility of the KDE component model really shows through when doing things such as easily placing and editing spreadsheets in your word processing documents. This is shown below:
A spreadsheet embedded inside a word processing document.
Editing the same spreadsheet inside the word processor. Notice how the toolbars and menus automatically change and how you can easily resize and adjust the spreadsheet's frame from the word processor.
What would a desktop environment be without various utilities to make your life easier. KDE always came with a wide variety of such packages, and here is how some of them are looking now:
General utilities
Multimedia utilities and the KDE audio mixer docked into the new panel.
Networking utilites, along with some browser shots.
One of the biggest problems to new users of *nix systems is properly managing their computer. KDE makes this easy with applications to manage user accounts, schedule jobs, and do many other tasks required to run a Unix/Linux machine. Here we show both the new KDE control center which is used to manage most daily configuration tasks, and a collage of separate KDE applications to help you with the bigger tasks:
The KDE control center with the traditional "tree" view of items.
The new KDE control center large icon mode
If you are unsure of where what you want to configure is, you can now easily search for it and be taken to the right place.
These are some of the individual applications available for adding users, configuring the Unix scheduler, etc..
What would a desktop be without games, and KDE has tons. Here are three screenshots of some (but not all!) of the games for KDE2.0.