What to Expect from KDE 3.4

KDE is just about ready to release version 3.4, which will be the last major release before version 4. 3.4 alpha will be available soon, it will go beta in January, and the final version will be released in March.

This OSDir article by developer George Staikos has the lowdown on what we can expect in version 3.4, ranging from new hardware support to software and application improvements.

A couple of the hardware lines caught my eye:

- Support for special keyboard keys on Dell Inspiron and ASUS laptops.
- A new battery monitor (under development).

My Inspiron 8000 has some media control keys above the keyboard which are about as useless as mammary glands on a male bovine. I’ve seen some references to software out there that might make them work, but I haven’t been that concerned about it. It would be nice to have them work natively in KDE and not have to mess around.

The battery monitor already seems to work fine, and in fact is more accurate than Win2K’s battery monitor during the last few months I was using it. Under W2K, the battery would suddenly drop from 65% charge to less than 10% with no warning; KDE’s, at least, seems to drop uniformly. If they’re looking to improve it even further, I can’t wait to see what they come up with.

Given this laptop is most definitely a production machine for me, I won’t be jumping in on the alpha or beta for KDE 3.4. If anyone out there does give it a shot, though, and is willing to share their thoughts, I’ll be happy to post them here or link to reviews.