Tutorials/KDE3 to KDE SC 4

At first sight it looks as though a number of features that were valued in KDE3 are missing in KDE4. In fact most of those features are available, but may well be approached differently. Imaging a 'Road Closed' sign - you simply choose an alternative route. This is what has happened to several things, for a variety of reasons.

A particular case is of 'missing features' from kcontrol to systemsettings. Some of the kcontrol settings related to specific applications. Those settings have therefore been moved to the application, rather than being in a general control panel.

Old friends, new ways

Creating icons on the desktop

In KDE 3 you could add a link to an application by right-clicking onto the desktop. In KDE 4 there are two modes of desktop, either of which may be the default in your distribution. You can change between them by right-clicking on the desktop, choosing Desktop Settings (some distros call it Appearance Settings) and choosing the Type from Desktop (for those who like a clean, sparse desktop) and Folder View (which behaves much more like the KDE3 desktop).

Automounting of USB devices

In KDE 3 you could choose to have usb devices mounted automatically upon plugin. IN KDE 4 this is not the norm. You mount manually, either from the device notifier, by choosing an action, or by clicking on the device icon in Dolphin. From KDE 4.2 it has been possible to use an alternative device notifier plasmoid that does support automount functionality. You can read about it here

Alternative approach:

Use an automount mechanism outside of KDE4, e.g. manually edit hal configuration files and/or add the devices to /etc/fstab.

Configuration example with udev under Debian/Ubuntu:

As root create and edit a file and named: 80-usbdevice.rules and save it under /etc/udev/rules.d/. In this file add a rule for the automatic mounting for each individual device that should be automounted.

The lines look like this for a vfat usb stick (replace ##entries## according to your system).

RUN+="/bin/mount -t vfat -o uid=0,gid=46,umask=007 /dev/##DEVICENAME## /media/##usb-stick##"

Afterwards restart udev

sudo /etc/init.d/udev reload 

For details please consult the writing udev rules guide.

kcontrol no longer exists

kcontrol no longer exists. Use the program systemsettings instead.

kdesktop no longer allows 3rd party apps to draw the background

In KDE3 it is possible to use 3rd party apps such as XPlanet to set the desktop wallpaper, by clicking 'Advanced Options' under the background settings panel. It is also possible to have a real-time map of the planet as a background (directions here). The ability to use a custom command to draw the desktop background no longer exists.

Auto-hide Panels

Kicker in KDE3 used to have an option to autohide. In KDE4.2 this is possible. To achieve this click on the cashew (plasma icon) at the right side of the panel and select 'configure panel'. Then under 'more options' enable autohide. (In KDE4.3 'more options' are availlable directly once You select 'configure panel'.)

Move applets on the panel

In kicker in KDE3, one could move applets by clicking the middle mouse button or by dragging a handle. In KDE4 you have to bring up panel control. You can use the cashew in the topleft of the desktop or do a right click on an empty area on the desktop. Choose unlock widgets. You can now bring up panel control by clicking the cashew on the bottom-right of the panel. Now you can move widgets either by drag and drop or click - move - click to drop.

Finish by clicking on the "Cashew" and lock plasmoids.

Obtain network access behind Fritzbox routers

Currently, KDE4 networking contains or triggers a bug that makes it impossible to obtain network access behind a popular FritzBox router (and some other models). If you cannot access any websites with konqueror and if other net access (e.g. internet update of plasmoids) fail, you may be a victim of this bug. See the Bug report for details. The bug is reported as fixed now.

Work-arounds

1. Use any program but konqueror KDE4, for example firefox, opera etc for browsing. Please note that this does not fix the problems for e.g. downloading plasmoids from the net.

2. Change the network settings of your system to direct DNS requests directly to an external DNS server to circumvent the router.

3. Use a different router, i.e. buy new hardware.

4. Turn off IPV6 completely by preventing the ipv6 linux kernel module from loading. For details refer to this.

Show the application name instead of the description in the K - menu

KDE3 used to let you configure whether you wanted to see the application name (e.g. amarok) or the description (e.g. media player). KDE4 always shows only the description and this makes it very hard to find applications.

Work-around: If You use 'Kickoff Menu Style', You can easily find an application by typing the first few letters of its name in the 'Search' line of the 'Application Launcher'. If You prefer the old K menu, then right click the K menu icon and choose "Switch to Classic Menu Style". Now You can configure how to show applications in the menu: Right click on the K icon -> Application Launcher settings. Check the "Show applications by name" option, click OK. Done.

bluetooth

The bluetooth kioslave is missing. This is very severe, no more possibility to download pictures from a bluetooth mobile phone.