Beta (RC1) testing

This time I'm not going to talk about beta testing of Windows 7, as I wasn't much impressed by it. Anyway, starting from tomorrow, with the release of the public beta, the web is going to be flooded with beta-testers notes. Instead, I decided to get back to the one desktop environment I test every time a new major release arrives: KDE.

When KDE 4.0 came out, I gave it a try, but I didn't like it, so I removed it altogether. Now, with KDE 4.2 coming up, and me developing a taste in UI, I thought I should go for another round.

Thanks to this and this, I got the ultimate test environment - a chroot-ed KDE, which even supports the desktop special effects. No virtualization and without messing the host.

So what do I think so far? Overall, the OS looks great, and is very functional. The effects are smooth and nice, Hebrew works perfectly, and applications seems ready for the public. Didn't find anything yet to report a bug on, but that might take some time.
Two disappointing things:

1. Couldn't make Kopete connect to Google Talk.
2. Konqueror.

Actually, the second is so problematic, I had to write this post using Firefox.

Bottom line, the kde4daily over chroot is highly recommended for all of you out there who aren't afraid of technology. While KDE 4.2 is not ready as a complete desktop environment, I think that with the right additions (OpenOffice, Firefox) it would be good enough to set the higher standards for all of the rest of the desktops (regardless the OS).