K Desktop Environment 3

Last updated
K Desktop Environment 3
Developer(s) KDE
Initial release3 April 2002;22 years ago (2002-04-03)
Final release
3.5.10 / 26 August 2008;16 years ago (2008-08-26)
Written in C++ (Qt 3)
Operating system Unix-like with X11
Predecessor K Desktop Environment 2
Successor KDE Plasma 4, KDE Software Compilation 4 and Trinity Desktop Environment
Available inMultilingual
Type Desktop environment
License GPL and other licenses
Website kde.org

K Desktop Environment 3 (KDE 3) is the third series of releases of the K Desktop Environment (after that called KDE Software Compilation ). It was one of the two major desktop environments for GNU/Linux systems between 2002 and 2008. [1] [2] There are six major releases in this series. After the release of KDE 4, version 3.5 was forked into the Trinity Desktop Environment.

Contents

K Desktop Environment 3.0

K Desktop Environment 3.0 KDE 3.0n.jpg
K Desktop Environment 3.0

K Desktop Environment 3.0 introduced better support for restricted usage, a feature demanded by certain environments such as kiosks, Internet cafes and enterprise deployments, which disallows the user from having full access to all capabilities of a piece of software. [3] To address these needs, KDE 3.0 included a new lockdown framework, essentially a permissions-based system for altering application configuration options that supplements the standard UNIX permissions system. [4] The KDE panel and the desktop manager were modified to employ this system, but other major desktop components, such as Konqueror and the Control Center, had to wait for subsequent releases. [5]

K Desktop Environment 3.0 debuted a new printing framework, KDEPrint. KDEPrint's modular design enabled it to support different printing engines, such as CUPS, LPRng, and LDP/LPR. In conjunction with CUPS, KDEPrint was able to manage an elaborate enterprise networked printing system. Since KDEPrint provides a command-line interface, its framework, including its GUI configuration elements, is accessible to non-KDE applications, such as OpenOffice.org, the Mozilla Application Suite, and Acrobat Reader. [5]

This release also introduced a new KDE address book library providing a central address book for all KDE applications. The new library is based on the vCard standard and has provisions for being extended by additional backends such as LDAP and database servers. [5]

K Desktop Environment 3.1

K Desktop Environment 3.1 with Konqueror and the About screen. KDE-3.1-es-ES.png
K Desktop Environment 3.1 with Konqueror and the About screen.

K Desktop Environment 3.1 introduced new default window (Keramik) and icon (Crystal) styles as well as several feature enhancements. [6]

The update included greatly improved LDAP integration throughout Kontact, enhanced security for KMail (S/MIME, PGP/MIME and X.509v3 support) and Microsoft Exchange 2000 compatibility for KOrganizer. The desktop lockdown framework, introduced in version 3.0, was extended. Other improvements included tabbed browsing in Konqueror; a new download manager, KGet; a new multimedia player plugin, based on Xine, and a desktop sharing framework. Redesigned New UI. [6]

K Desktop Environment 3.2

K Desktop Environment 3.2 with Konqueror and the About screen. This release has been described a watershed for the K Desktop Environment. Kde-3.2.3-es-es.png
K Desktop Environment 3.2 with Konqueror and the About screen. This release has been described a watershed for the K Desktop Environment.

K Desktop Environment 3.2 included new features, such as inline spell checking for web forms and emails, improved e-mail and calendaring support, tabs in Konqueror and support for Microsoft Windows desktop sharing protocol (RDP). Performance and Freedesktop.org standards compliance were improved by lower start up times for applications and strengthened interoperability with other Linux and UNIX software. After the KDE community worked in concert with Apple's Safari web browser team, KDE's web support saw performance boosts and increased compliance with web standards. [8]

KDE Desktop Environment improved usability by reworking many applications, dialogs and control panels to focus on clarity and utility, and by reducing clutter in many menus and toolbars. Hundreds of new icons were created to improve the consistency of the environment, along with changes to the default visual style, including new splash screens, animated progress bars and styled panels. The Plastik style debuted in this release. [8]

New applications included: [8]

K Desktop Environment 3.3

K Desktop Environment 3.3. Kde 3 3 screengrab.png
K Desktop Environment 3.3.

K Desktop Environment 3.3 focused on integrating different desktop components. Kontact was integrated with Kolab, a groupware application, and Kpilot. Konqueror was given better support for instant messaging contacts, with the capability to send files to IM contacts and support for IM protocols (e.g., IRC). KMail was given the ability to display the online presence of IM contacts. Juk was given support for burning audio CDs with K3b. [9]

This update also included many small desktop enhancements. Konqueror received tab improvements, an RSS feed viewer sidebar and a searchbar compatible with all keyword searches. KMail was given HTML composition, anti-spam and anti-virus wizards, automatic handling of mailing lists, improved support for cryptography and a quick search bar. Kopete gained support for file transfers with Jabber, aRts gained jack support and KWin gained new buttons to support more features, such as "always on top". [9]

New applications included: [9]

K Desktop Environment 3.4

K Desktop Environment 3.4 with Konqueror and Amarok. Kde34screenshot.png
K Desktop Environment 3.4 with Konqueror and Amarok.

K Desktop Environment 3.4 focused on improving accessibility. The update added a text-to-speech system with support for Konqueror, Kate, KPDF, the standalone application KSayIt and text-to-speech synthesis on the desktop. A new high contrast style and a complete monochrome icon set were added, as well as an icon effect to paint all KDE icons into any two arbitrary colors (third party application icons would be converted into a high contrast monochrome color scheme). [10]

Kontact got support for various groupware servers, and Kopete was integrated into Kontact. KMail gained the ability to store passwords securely in KWallet. KPDF gained the ability to select and copy and paste text and images from PDFs, along with many other improvements. The update added a new application, Akregator, which provides the ability to read news from various RSS-enabled websites all in one application. [10]

The update added DBUS/HAL support to allow dynamic device icons to keep in sync with the state of all devices. Kicker was given an improved visual aesthetic, and the trash system was redesigned to be more flexible. The new desktop environment allows SVG to be used as wallpapers. KHTML was improved standards support, having nearly full support for CSS 2.1 and CSS 3. In addition, KHTML plug-ins were allowed to be activated on a case-by-case basis. There were also improvements to the way Netscape plug-ins are handled. [10]

K Desktop Environment 3.5

KDE 3.5 running the Kontact personal information manager and Konqueror file manager. Kde35.png
KDE 3.5 running the Kontact personal information manager and Konqueror file manager.

The K Desktop Environment 3.5 release added SuperKaramba, which provides integrated and simple-to-install widgets to the desktop. Konqueror was given an ad-block feature and became the second web browser to pass the Acid2 CSS test, ahead of Firefox and Internet Explorer. Kopete gained webcam support for the MSN and Yahoo! Messenger protocols. The edutainment module included three new applications, KGeography, Kanagram and blinKen. Kalzium also saw improvements. [11] Upon the release of KDE 4, KDE 3.5 was forked as Trinity Desktop Environment.

Release schedule

Date [12] Event
3.0
3 April 2002KDE 3.0 released
22 May 20023.0.1 Maintenance release.
2 July 20023.0.2 Maintenance release.
19 August 20023.0.3 Maintenance release.
9 October 20023.0.4 Maintenance release.
18 November 20023.0.5 Maintenance release.
21 December 20023.0.5a Maintenance release.
9 April 20033.0.5b Maintenance release.
3.1
28 January 2003KDE 3.1 released
20 March 20033.1.1 Maintenance release.
9 April 20033.1.1a Maintenance release.
19 May 20033.1.2 Maintenance release.
29 July 20033.1.3 Maintenance release.
20 August 20033.1.3a Maintenance release.
16 September 20033.1.4 Maintenance release.
14 January 20043.1.5 Maintenance release.
3.2
3 February 2004KDE 3.2 released
9 March 20043.2.1 Maintenance release.
19 April 20043.2.2 Maintenance release.
9 June 20043.2.3 Maintenance release.
3.3
19 August 2004KDE 3.3 released
12 October 20043.3.1 Maintenance release.
8 December 20043.3.2 Maintenance release.
3.4
16 March 2005KDE 3.4 released
31 May 20053.4.1 Maintenance release.
28 July 20053.4.2 Maintenance release.
13 October 20053.4.3 Maintenance release.
3.5
29 November 2005KDE 3.5 released
31 January 20063.5.1 Maintenance release.
28 March 20063.5.2 Maintenance release.
31 May 20063.5.3 Maintenance release.
2 August 20063.5.4 Maintenance release.
11 October 20063.5.5 Maintenance release.
25 January 20073.5.6 Maintenance release.
22 May 20073.5.7 Maintenance release.
16 October 20073.5.8 Maintenance release.
19 February 20083.5.9 Maintenance release.
26 August 20083.5.10 Maintenance release.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KDE</span> Free software community

KDE is an international free software community that develops free and open-source software. As a central development hub, it provides tools and resources that enable collaborative work on its projects. Its products include the Plasma Desktop, KDE Frameworks, and a range of applications such as Kate, digiKam, and Krita. Some KDE applications are cross-platform and can run on Unix and Unix-like operating systems, Microsoft Windows, and Android. KDE is legally represented by KDE e.V. based in Germany, who also own the KDE trademarks and fund the project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Konqueror</span> Web browser and file manager

Konqueror is a free and open-source web browser and file manager that provides web access and file-viewer functionality for file systems. It forms a core part of the KDE Software Compilation. Developed by volunteers, Konqueror can run on most Unix-like operating systems. The KDE community licenses and distributes Konqueror under GNU GPL-2.0-or-later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KHTML</span> Discontinued web browser engine

KHTML is a discontinued browser engine that was developed by the KDE project. It originated as the engine of the Konqueror browser in the late 1990s, but active development ceased in 2016. It was officially discontinued in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kontact</span> Personal information manager software

Kontact is a personal information manager and groupware software suite developed by KDE. It supports calendars, contacts, notes, to-do lists, news, and email. It offers a number of inter-changeable graphical UIs all built on top of a common core.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beagle (software)</span> Search system for Unix

Beagle is a search system for Linux and other Unix-like systems, enabling the user to search documents, chat logs, email and contact lists. It is not actively developed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KDE Software Compilation 4</span> Software

KDE Software Compilation 4 was the only series of the so-called KDE Software Compilation, first released in January 2008. The final release was version 4.14.3 in November 2014. It was the follow-up to K Desktop Environment 3. Following KDE SC 4, the compilation was broken up into basic framework libraries, desktop environment, and applications, which are termed KDE Frameworks 5, KDE Plasma 5, and KDE Applications, respectively. Major releases (4.x) were released every six months, while minor bugfix releases (4.x.y) were released monthly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kicker (KDE)</span> Taskbar for the K Desktop Environment

Kicker is the main panel used in KDE 3 and earlier, and also in the TDE desktop. Together with KDesktop, it forms the graphical shell. It can be customized by the user. By default, it has the K Menu, a Desktop Access button, a Home button, a Konqueror button, a Kontact button, and a Help button. It also has the Desktop Preview & Pager, the Taskbar, the System Tray, and the Clock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KDE Platform 4</span> Collection of software libraries and frameworks

KDE Platform 4 was a collection of libraries and software frameworks by KDE that served as technological foundation for KDE Software Compilation 4 distributed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL). KDE Platform 4 was the successor to KDElibs and the predecessor of KDE Frameworks. KDE Platform 4 is the only version of KDE Platform, and in 2013 it was replaced by KDE Frameworks 5.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KDE Plasma 4</span> Graphical environments provided by KDE

KDE Plasma 4 is the fourth generation of the KDE workspace environments. It consists of three workspaces, each targeting a certain platform: Plasma Desktop for traditional desktop PCs and notebooks, Plasma Netbook for netbooks, and Plasma Active for tablet PCs and similar devices.

A desktop environment is a collection of software designed to give functionality and a certain look and feel to an operating system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dolphin (file manager)</span> File manager for KDE desktop environment

Dolphin is a free and open source file manager included in the KDE Applications bundle. Dolphin became the default file manager of the KDE Plasma desktop environments in the fourth iteration, termed KDE Software Compilation 4. It can also be optionally installed on K Desktop Environment 3. It replaces Konqueror as the default file manager for KDE SC 4, but Konqueror can still be used as an alternative file manager.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">K Desktop Environment 2</span> Free software

K Desktop Environment 2 was the second series of releases of the K Desktop Environment. There were three major releases in this series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">K Desktop Environment 1</span> Free software

K Desktop Environment 1 was the inaugural series of releases of the K Desktop Environment. There were two major releases in this series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NimbleX</span> Linux distribution

NimbleX is a small Slackware-based Linux distribution optimized to run from a CD, USB drive or a network environment. NimbleX has been praised for how fast it boots, as well as for its small disk footprint, which is considered surprising for a distribution using KDE as desktop environment. NimbleX was also remarked for its website that allows users to generate custom bootable images by using a web browser. It was also covered in mainstream Romanian press as the first Linux distribution put together by a Romanian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KDE Software Compilation</span> Desktop environment and an associated range of KDE Applications produced by KDE

The KDE Software Compilation was an umbrella term for the desktop environment plus a range of included applications produced by KDE. From its 1.0 release in July 1998 until the release of version 4.4 in February 2010, the Software Compilation was simply known as KDE, which stood for K Desktop Environment until the rebrand. The then called KDE SC was used from 4.4 onward until the final release 4.14 in July 2014. It consisted of the KDE Plasma 4 desktop and those KDE applications, whose development teams chose to follow the Software Compilation's release schedule. After that, the KDE SC was split into three separate product entities: KDE Plasma, KDE Frameworks and KDE Applications, each with their own independent release schedules.

Fedora Linux is a popular Linux distribution developed by the Fedora Project. Fedora attempts to maintain a six-month release schedule, offering new versions in Spring and Fall, although some releases have experienced minor delays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinity Desktop Environment</span> Desktop environment for Unix-like operating systems

The Trinity Desktop Environment (TDE) is a complete software desktop environment designed for Linux and Unix-like operating systems, intended for computer users preferring a traditional desktop model, and is free/libre software. Born as a fork of KDE 3.5 in 2010, it was originally created by Timothy Pearson, who had coordinated Kubuntu remixes featuring KDE 3.5 after Kubuntu switched to KDE Plasma 4.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KDE Gear</span> Set of applications and supporting libraries

The KDE Gear is a set of applications and supporting libraries that are developed by the KDE community, primarily used on Linux-based operating systems but mostly multiplatform, and released on a common release schedule.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KDE Projects</span>

KDE Projects are projects maintained by the KDE community, a group of people developing and advocating free software for everyday use, for example KDE Plasma and KDE Frameworks or applications such as Amarok, Krita or Digikam. There are also non-coding projects like designing the Breeze desktop theme and iconset, which is coordinated by KDE's Visual Design Group. Even non-Qt applications like GCompris, which started as a GTK-based application, or web-based projects like WikiToLearn are officially part of KDE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KDE Plasma</span> Set of graphical environments for Unix-like operating systems

KDE Plasma is a set of graphical shells developed by KDE for Unix-like operating systems. With the KDE brand repositioning in 2009, Plasma 4.4 succeeded KDE 4.3. Currently, it has four workspace variants: one for desktop PCs and laptops, one for TVs, one for smartphones, and another for embedded and touch-enabled devices. Plasma Desktop, in its default configuration, resembles KDesktop from K Desktop Environment 3 and Microsoft Windows XP; however, extensive configurability allows radical departures from the default layout.

References

  1. ↑ Byfield, Bruce (2022). "Exploring the Trinity Desktop » Linux Magazine". Linux Magazine. Retrieved 2024-06-05.
  2. ↑ Petreley, Nicholas; Petreley, Nick; Bacon, Jono (2005-03-23). Linux Desktop Hacks: Tips & Tools for Customizing and Optimizing Your OS. "O'Reilly Media, Inc.". ISBN   978-0-596-00911-3.
  3. ↑ Waldo Bastian (November 12, 2004). "KIOSK Admin Tool user manual". KDE. Archived from the original on September 29, 2013. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  4. ↑ Barry O'Donovan (2005). "KDE System Administration – Kiosk". TechBase. KDE. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 "KDE 3.0 Released to public". KDE Community. KDE e.V. 3 April 2002. Archived from the original on 31 October 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  6. 1 2 "KDE 3.1 Release Announcement". KDE community. KDE e.V. 28 January 2003. Archived from the original on 31 October 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  7. ↑ Aaron Seigo. "milestones". Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
  8. 1 2 3 "Announcing KDE 3.2". KDE Community. KDE e.V. 3 February 2004. Archived from the original on 31 October 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  9. 1 2 3 "Announcing KDE 3.3". KDE community. KDE e.V. 19 August 2004. Archived from the original on 31 October 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  10. 1 2 3 "Announcing KDE 3.4". KDE Community. KDE e.V. 16 March 2005. Archived from the original on 31 October 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  11. ↑ K Desktop Environment 3.5 Released Archived 2006-04-24 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ↑ KDE Announcements Archived 2008-03-07 at the Wayback Machine
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.