User:SamiZhan/the beginners' guide new edition/About KDE

From KDE Wiki Sandbox

KDE is a free Open Soucre Desktop Software Collection. KDE SC not only provide you a simple desktop but also a host of useful applications for you to use. In this guide you will learn how to use most of them basically.

Why use KDE Software

If you are a Windows or Mac OS user , or if you are using GNOME or XFCE , you may ask:

  • "MS Windows is great enough , is there some advantages of KDE Software?"
  • "Someone told me that all the open source software is really hard to learn , is that true?"
  • "It is said that you always get what you pay for , KDE Software is free , how can a free software be better?"
  • "Are there any reasons to switch to KDE Software?"

So , this chapter will tell you some of the advantages of KDE Software , and you may find some reasons to try KDE Software.

Advantages

  • Freedom. KDE Software is not only free to use. They are freeware. The codes of the program is open and the software is released under a free licence.
  • Powerful. KDE Software provide powerful functions. KDE Software gives you almost whatever we need. You can use KDE software to manage your computer system , files , music , photos , personal life and your work. You can also use KDE software to surf the Internet , contact with people , do your artwork , create a document or a slide show. There is also some software designed for education and science. There is also many software made for developers. You will learn how to do these thing with KDE Software with this guide soon.
  • Easy to use. KDE Software is designed easy to use. Even it's the first time for you to use a computer , you can get start quickly with this guide book. If you are used to using Microsoft software , you can also swith to KDE Software easily. There are different softwares disigned for different people. For example , most users may use dolphin to manage their files , because it powerful and easy to use. But users of higher-level may use Krusader which is even more powerful but not so easy to get start.
  • Easy to customize and configure. You can customize your desktop with a lot of tools. These tools made it really easy to customize your desktop in your own way. KDE Software is also easy to configure because there are plenty of GUI tools for you to use. It means there is no need for you to edit *.conf files. And there is nothing like the Windows registry , the Windows registry is really hard to learn , isn't it? With this guide , you will learn how to customize your desktop soon.

If you are still hesitate , just have a quick view of this guide , and you will know what KDE Software can bring to you.

Where and How to get KDE Software

Most Linux distributions has already contained KDE. But KDE may not be the default Desktop Environment. If you use distributions such as Mandriva , OpenSUSE , Kubuntu etc. , you may have alerady installed KDE by default. But if you are using distributions like Ubuntu , fedora , debian etc , you may be using GNOME because GNOME is the default Desktop Environment of these distributions. However , no matter which distribution you are using now , you can install KDE Software on you own.

If you are just considering switching to Linux...

for the most end users

If you are just considering switching to Linux platform , you'd better choose a distribution contains KDE as the default Desktop Environment.If you want a system easy to get started , distributions like Mandriva Linux,OpenSUSE etc is quite great. These distrobutions are easy to install , you can just install them without removing your Windows system. After a try you may considering replacing MicroSoft Windows with Linux platform and KDE Software. These distrobutions use KDE as their default Desktop , they also contains many other software such as openoffice.org , Adobe flashplayer and some non-free hardware drivers. These packages give you a better experience of the operating system.

But if you want nothing but pure KDE Software , you could try Chakra GNU/Linux, but please noticed that Chakra may not be suitable for most end users! On the one hand , Some packages useful for end users such as flashplayer is not contained in this OS , becasue Chakra is gtk2-free. On the other hand , Chakra haven't provided the function of automatic partitioning , this means you must partition the disk manually. It's a bit difficult for new users.

for intermediate users

For intermediate users , you can choose Frugalware Linux,Slackware Linux,PC-BSD or Arch Linux. These distrubions may not be so easy to get start , but they provide a great performance.

If you have been using Linux...

If you have been using Linux , you may be using GNOME , XFCE or LXDE. Just have a try on KDE Software! It's quite easy to install KDE Software on most distributions.Also, you can also use KDE Software with other desktop environments such as GNOME.

If you are still use MS windows or Mac OS

For MS Windows or Mac OS users , maybe intall a Mandriva Linux or OpenSUSE is a better choice. You can install them without removing you MS Windows Operating System. However, KDE Software is also available on Windows now. Have a look at KDE on Windows project.

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