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List:       kde-announce
Subject:    ANNOUNCE: KDE Desktop for Linux
From:       Martin Konold <konold () alpha ! tat ! physik ! uni-tuebingen ! de>
Date:       2000-06-14 21:28:25
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   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

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