Introduction

After a problem with the Kubuntu update to KDE 4.2, the laptop reinstalled the desktop all together, I’m now running the first Jaunty Jackalope Beta.  I like contributing back to the community, most of you already know this see my articles and previous work in here.  Installing a beta version and using it on a production box does take some guts.

How Did It Go?

If you have ever installed a beta product of anything then you know that instability is almost a given.  I started the installation of Jaunty on a clean HDD on Friday.  Then decided to do the rest of my configuration over this past weekend.  I take a little longer setting up my own boxes because I am precise about how stuff is installed.

I also choose for ext4 instead of the more standard ext3 just to be daring even more lol.

First impression

The new version of Kubuntu is faster just as promised.  Jaunty cuts my startup time by I would say 25%.  The Desktop look great.  I am however still missing some stuff on Jaunty.  Digikam to name one is still absent.  The promised version 10 did not get included into Jaunty.  This makes me sad because it’s such a great piece of software that really is missed by me.  For those who do not know Digikam is photo management software.  I take a lot of digital photo’s and I use Digikam on a daily basis.

The Nitty Gritty

Everything seems to be working okay.  Even my wireless card (AR242X) is now recognized in Jaunty.  The wireless network is seen and can be connected to using network manager out of the box, GREAT!!  I did try to upgrade rather than do a clean install.  However it did become apparent that a clean install was needed.  I would consider this a tip for everyone having these strange problems of Kmail loosing accounts.  These kind odd errors are the result of lingering OLD configuration files.

In the previous version of Kubuntu (8.10) I had the problem that after a suspend or hibernate  my laptop would overheat because of the fact that the CPU fan wouldn’t switch on.  Jaunty (9.04) also fixes this issue.

Plasma is even better with an actual usable system monitor.  Although I find that some of the plasmoids are missing configuration options.  The new LCD weather station is cool but unusable.  The data sources used don’t have any US city’s so nice but I don’t want to know the weather in London.

That Was Short

Yes but you can see this as a first impression article.  There will be more to follow as soon as I run into problems.

For more info about Jaunty Jackalope 9.04 read these articles I’ve written for Bright Hub:

Canonical Releases Ubuntu Jaunty Jackalope 9.04

What’s New In Kubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope

Related Posts

• February 13, 2009 -- HAL, Xserver And How It Works (0)
• November 7, 2008 -- How To Get Atheros AR242x To Work on 8.10 Intrepid Ibex (528)
• August 19, 2008 -- How to get Atheros AR242x wireless to work. 2 (125)
• August 10, 2008 -- How to get Atheros AR242x wireless to work. (4)
• April 29, 2010 -- Kubuntu 10.04 LTS Released Today (1)

In this article I explain the standard features of Kubuntu, where to find applications and how to install an application using adept.  It is filled with screen shots of Kubuntu with both KDE3 and KDE4.  I believe it gives a good insight into the fresh installation of Kubuntu.  It interlaces perfectly with both part 1 and part 2, “The Move from Windows to Kubuntu is Smoother than You Think” , “Installing Kubuntu with Wubi”

In part four next week I will tackle the difficulty of getting Codecs, Flash and Java to work.  I will make it easy as pie to install everything and have you viewing Youtube video’s or playing Pogo.com games in no time.  Stay tunes for that one.

After part four I want to go into some of the applications a little deeper if you have any suggestions then please leave a comment on this post.  Tell me which application you would like to hear more about and I will use your input to determine what applications to explain, review and discuss.

Related Posts

• April 6, 2009 -- Took The Plunge Jaunty Jackalope Kubuntu 9.04 On Laptop (0)
• April 29, 2010 -- Kubuntu 10.04 LTS Released Today (1)
• December 8, 2009 -- Busy, Downtime Again, Server Move (0)
• May 14, 2009 -- Karmic Koala 9.10 The First Alpha Is Here (2)
• May 8, 2009 -- Want To Boot Linux From A Flash Drive? (2)

If you start using Firefox 3.0.3 in KDE4 then you notice it looks very ugly.

Here is how to fix this:
Ramón Antonio Parada (what an awesome name) created a Theme for Firefox.  You can find it at his website.

Here is how it looks:

Now Firefox looks amazing again.

It’s clear to see that a lot of the application developers still have to refine the look of there application in KDE4 but in due time they will all adopt the Oxygen Theme for the uniform look we are used to.  Most of the standard applications already have.

This most be the shortest “Mini How To” ever lol.

Related Posts

• April 6, 2009 -- Took The Plunge Jaunty Jackalope Kubuntu 9.04 On Laptop (0)
• February 18, 2009 -- What Browser Is Best For Linux (0)
• November 14, 2008 -- Now Available: (3)
• August 18, 2008 -- Firefox add-ons I always install on a new Kubuntu install (0)
• August 5, 2008 -- Install and search for packages with apt (0)