Kubuntu may not be the best KDE distro around but in my experience, a lot of new Linux users tend to start their KDE experience with Kubuntu. Possibly it is due to trickle down effect of the popularity of Ubuntu. But, never the less, Kubuntu receives a lot of attention among the Linux users. Kubuntu's latest release is 13.04 Raring Ringtail with KDE 4.10.2 and kernel 3.8.0-19 and as the release notes states, there are some incremental improvements over the last release (12.10).
In this review I'll take you through my experience with Kubuntu 13.04 for a couple of days and my assessment of whether to upgrade from Kubuntu Precise or Quantal. I downloaded the 32-bit ISO (~ 1 GB in size) and installed it on my Asus K54C laptop with 2.2 Ghz Core-i3 processor and 2 GB RAM.
Installation
Installation is the same as in previous releases. While the look of the installer is somewhat different from Ubuntu but the process and complexities are essentially same. It took me about 30 minutes to install Kubuntu 13.04 on my laptop (incl. download of multimedia codecs and Adobe flashplugin). Kubuntu installation is very simple and even a Linux novice would be at home with the installation process.
KDE 4.10.2
I must say KDE 4.10.2 looks really good and provides the customization options characteristic to KDE. The default wallpaper is attractive. However, it is the only wallpaper option in the distro! It is a bit surprising as normally Kubuntu or for the matter any KDE distro come with quite a few wallpaper options.
Anyway, I don't mind till the default option is good. KDE 4.10.2 retains all the desktop effect options like desktop cube, sphere and cylinder along with other effects. I could successfully create desktop cube and cylinder without much effort. I appreciate this about KDE - they did not unnecessarily complicate things here.
KDE 4.10.2 comes with several customization options, starting from the beautiful analog clock with hands to customized themes and wallpapers. And they are very easy to install, the best part of it!
Also, KDE appeals to Window XP and Windows 7 users for similar looks. Kubuntu 13.04 very correctly does not tamper with the default KDE looks and retain the same simplicity and attractiveness.
Applications
I always like Kubuntu's software selection - selecting judiciously from the large pool of KDE based apps, to hand pick a bunch of very useful applications pre-installed in the Kubuntu releases. The same trend continues in Kubuntu 13.04 as well. Software list is pretty similar to 12.10 & 12.04, viz.
Amarok music player is one of the best I have seen and works well with KDE 4.10.2. Even Dragon player is good but may not be as capable as VLC. If VLC is your favorite video player, it can be downloaded from Ubuntu Raring repositories.
Kubuntu 13.04 comes with Dolphin 2.2.0 as the default file manager and I found it to be quite fast and efficient. Only thing that bugs me about Dolphin is the single click to open files and folders settings - even if I want to select a file, because of the single click option, it will open the file. Good thing is that it can be changed to double click to open files and folders in Dolphin. Otherwise, Dolphin works perfect.
Repository
Kubuntu sources applications from the Ubuntu Raring repositories but doesn't use the Ubuntu software center GUI. It has it's own Muon Software Center. It is not as intuitive or simple as Ubuntu software center but never the less it works! Anyway, you can hit Synaptic package manager or terminal, if you don't like Muon.
Performance
Kubuntu, I feel, is getting better with every release. Kubuntu 13.04 is really smooth to use and doesn't feel taxing on the resources. If I compare to Kubuntu Precise and Quantal, Raring is marginally more efficient in my rating. All these distros are tested on the same laptop and under identical conditions.
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"Welcome to Kubuntu 13.04, a brand new version with the latest KDE software to enjoy. Highlights: the current release of KDE's Plasma Workspaces and Applications 4.10 adds a new screen locker, Qt Quick notifications, colour correction in Gwenview and faster indexing in the semantic desktop; new version of the Muon Suite for application install and upgrades; version 2 of our Reconq web browser adds a bunch of new features, such as inline spell check, new incognito mode, pinning tabs, improved error page and simplified Rekonq pages; Homerun - a full screen alternative to the Kickoff application menu; a new screen management tool..."
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| From Kubuntu 13.04 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in |
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| From Kubuntu 13.04 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in |
Installation
Installation is the same as in previous releases. While the look of the installer is somewhat different from Ubuntu but the process and complexities are essentially same. It took me about 30 minutes to install Kubuntu 13.04 on my laptop (incl. download of multimedia codecs and Adobe flashplugin). Kubuntu installation is very simple and even a Linux novice would be at home with the installation process.
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| From Kubuntu 13.04 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in |
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| From Kubuntu 13.04 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in |
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| From Kubuntu 13.04 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in |
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| From Kubuntu 13.04 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in |
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| From Kubuntu 13.04 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in |
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| From Kubuntu 13.04 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in |
KDE 4.10.2
I must say KDE 4.10.2 looks really good and provides the customization options characteristic to KDE. The default wallpaper is attractive. However, it is the only wallpaper option in the distro! It is a bit surprising as normally Kubuntu or for the matter any KDE distro come with quite a few wallpaper options.
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| From Kubuntu 13.04 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in |
Anyway, I don't mind till the default option is good. KDE 4.10.2 retains all the desktop effect options like desktop cube, sphere and cylinder along with other effects. I could successfully create desktop cube and cylinder without much effort. I appreciate this about KDE - they did not unnecessarily complicate things here.
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| From Kubuntu 13.04 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in |
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| From Kubuntu 13.04 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in |
Also, KDE appeals to Window XP and Windows 7 users for similar looks. Kubuntu 13.04 very correctly does not tamper with the default KDE looks and retain the same simplicity and attractiveness.
Applications
I always like Kubuntu's software selection - selecting judiciously from the large pool of KDE based apps, to hand pick a bunch of very useful applications pre-installed in the Kubuntu releases. The same trend continues in Kubuntu 13.04 as well. Software list is pretty similar to 12.10 & 12.04, viz.
- Office: LibreOffice 4.0.2.2 suite (Calc, Write, Impress & Draw), Okular Document viewer, KAddressbook, Korganizer, Kexi database
- Internet: Ktorrent, Akregator, KDE IM, KPPP dial up tool, Kmail, Rekonq web browser, Firefox installer, IRC client
- Graphics: Krita digital paint, Skanlite image scan, Gwenview image viewer, Kamoso picture retriever, Ksnapshot
- Multimedia: Amarok, Dragon Player, Kmix
- Accessories: Kate text editor, Ark archiving tool, Klipper clipboard, Nepomuk backup, Knotes, Kcalc, Kmag screen magnifier
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| From Kubuntu 13.04 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in |
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| From Kubuntu 13.04 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in |
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| From Kubuntu 13.04 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in |
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| From Kubuntu 13.04 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in |
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| From Kubuntu 13.04 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in |
Repository
Kubuntu sources applications from the Ubuntu Raring repositories but doesn't use the Ubuntu software center GUI. It has it's own Muon Software Center. It is not as intuitive or simple as Ubuntu software center but never the less it works! Anyway, you can hit Synaptic package manager or terminal, if you don't like Muon.
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| From Kubuntu 13.04 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in |
Kubuntu, I feel, is getting better with every release. Kubuntu 13.04 is really smooth to use and doesn't feel taxing on the resources. If I compare to Kubuntu Precise and Quantal, Raring is marginally more efficient in my rating. All these distros are tested on the same laptop and under identical conditions.
| Distro | Size of ISO | Base | Desktop | Linux kernel | CPU Usage | RAM usage |
| Kubuntu 12.04 LTS | 738 MB | Ubuntu 12.04 | KDE 4.8.4 | 3.2.0 | 1-10% | 310 MB |
| Kubuntu 12.10 | 999.6 MB | Ubuntu 12.10 | KDE 4.9.2 | 3.5.0 | 1-10% | 314 MB |
| Kubuntu 13.04 | 1 GB | Ubuntu 13.04 | KDE 4.10.2 | 3.8.0-19 | 1-10% | 276 MB |
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| From Kubuntu 13.04 http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in |
So, the big question - whether to upgrade or not? I know KDE 4.10.2 is available for Precise and Quantal and specially the LTS users may not be interested to upgrade. I would recommend the LTS users to download KDE 4.10.2 packages and stick to Kubuntu Precise with 5 years of support running till 2017. However, the question is a tough one for Kubuntu Quantal users. Quantal still has about 1 year of support left whereas Kubuntu 13.04 has only 9 months of support. Plus, given that KDE 4.10.2 packages are available to Kubuntu 12.10, I see no point of upgrading. As such there is not much to separate between Kubuntu 12.10 & 13.04. My recommendation is to better wait for Kubuntu 13.10.
However, make no mistake, Kubuntu 13.04 is really a good release in itself. If you want to try Kubuntu, definitely this is the distro for you, even highly recommended to Linux novices as well.
You can download Kubuntu 13.04 32-bit and 64-bit ISOs from here.
tried 64bit on other partition and not liking it... maybe should have tried 32bit instead. i will go soon and download 32bit -- which is what i was inclined to do first as my kubuntu 12.04 is 32bit and upgraded to kde 4.10.2 and STABLE....
ReplyDeletethanks again for your reviews!!!!!!!!
Hi Crik
DeleteI agree. Using 12.04 LTS and upgrading to KDE 4.10.2 is a better option.
Thanks for liking my review.
Arindam
Crik,
ReplyDeleteif you have more than 4 GB of RAM need not to worry just connect to internet before installing 32bit and Kubuntu will automatically install kernel with PAE in-order to support more than 4 GB RAM.
cheers,
debashish
oh... i absolutely did, and loving it! i was just trying 13.04 64bit, and love to try miscellaneous distro's, but keep coming back to kubuntu 12.04 32bit PAE---that even with manual upgrade to kde 4.10 it is amazing.
Deleteglad you stated what you did though, as there are more newbies like me out there that needed to read it... :)
oh... i absolutely did, and loving it! i was just trying 13.04 64bit, and love to try miscellaneous distro's, but keep coming back to kubuntu 12.04 32bit PAE---that even with manual upgrade to kde 4.10 it is amazing.
Deleteglad you stated what you did though, as there are more newbies like me out there that needed to read it... :)
I found 32-bit versions to be more efficient in resource consumption and works faster than their 64 bit counterparts, if it helps. And 32-bit with pae kernel detects even 8 GB RAM.
DeleteLibreoffice is version 4, I believe.
ReplyDeleteTypo corrected, thanks:)
DeleteLibreoffice version 4.
ReplyDeleteWallpaper looks dated!
Typo corrected, thanks:)
DeleteIt's very nice to know that kubuntu has only one pretty screen and didn't grumble or crash and so on but there are bits that you left out that might be useful to some (potential) users. Here are a couple of examples. First, Kubuntu, unlike its stablemates, doesn't seem to support the creation of the ext4 format. It does, though, read media formatted in ext4 by other systems. Strange.
ReplyDeleteSecond, the repository, as far as I know, doesn't (again unlike Ubuntu, Lubuntu, and Xubuntu) support Opera. Opera is important because it (unlike Firefox, Chrome, and the vast majority of other popular browsers) enables the user to start a download, stop it, exit the browser, power down the system, power it back up again, and have a reasonable chance of resuming the download. This is extremely important to users in, say India, where power cuts and failures are common.
So, when you review systems, please do try to go a little beyond telling us how long the installation took and how pretty the screens are and how slick the interface. I would live with a grouchy installer and ugly screens if I knew that I'd get a power-cut-recovery-capable system at the end of it.
With best wishes,
Shashi Warrier
Hi Shashi:
DeleteDefinitely there has been some confusion on your part. I've installed Kubuntu in ext4 formatted hard drive without any issue. Below are screenshots of the installation process:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/14f7bn8kbBNC5ZKg-zBMxNMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/nPaIN5thTD668p80Gu3zddMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink
Also, I am a great admirer of Firefox and use it on regular basis. The same functionalities are offered by firefox as well. You just pause the download once there is a powercut. Once the system is restarted, you can resume it from firefox as well.
However, if you prefer Opera browser, you need to add the third party Opera repo to your Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Lubuntu or whatever Ubuntu/Debian derived distro you use, by:
$ sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://deb.opera.com/opera/ stable non-free" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/opera.list'
Install opera key
$ sudo sh -c 'wget -O - http://deb.opera.com/archive.key | apt-key add -'
Do an update: sudo apt-get update
Install Opera: sudo apt-get install opera
Anyway, it is not a Kubuntu limitation - it only provides whatever are there in the Ubuntu repos. User needs to add the additional third party repos (like adobe, skype, opera, google chrome, picasa to name a few). Most of the Ubuntu derivatives include these ppa's in their spin and hence, you can locate these 3rd party apps in synaptic package manager or whatever GUI you use in downloading apps.
Possibly you need to explore Kubuntu a bit more to understand it better.
Regards,
Arindam
But does Evolution actually work on this version? For the past N releases Evolution will install, run, but neither send nor receive email.
ReplyDeleteBut does Evolution actually work on this version? For the past N releases Evolution will install, run, but neither send nor receive email.
ReplyDeleteBut does Evolution actually work on this version? For the past N releases Evolution will install, run, but neither send nor receive email.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletekubuntu 13.04 is a complete failure: Impossible to use ibus for Asian input in LibreOffice - Chinese, Japanese, etc... Very bad regression.
ReplyDeleteHowever ibus works in Gnome version (I did not test xubuntu/lubuntu), with all applications, including LibreOffice.
I mostly use US English and hence never checked out Asian fonts in my evaluation. Thanks for the suggestion - in my future evaluations I'll include Asian fonts as well.
Delete