KDE 4.4 RC 2 is now available for Ubuntu 9.10. This release candidate includes a number of bug fixes and new features, including:

  • A new systemsettings module to manage settings across all KDE applications
  • Improvements to the Plasma desktop environment
  • Updated translations To install KDE 4.4 RC 2 on Ubuntu 9.10, follow these instructions:
  1. Open a terminal window and type the following command: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
  2. Type the following command to install KDE 4.4 RC 2: sudo apt-get install kde-runtime kde4 kde4-configs libkdecore5 libkdeui5 libqtcore4 qtgui4 libqtwebkit4 kdelibs5 ..

I’m pretty happy to use Gnome. However, I thought it would be a good idea to try out KDE 4.4 RC 2 which is the latest beta version of the much awaited KDE 4.4. The following is a step by step guide to install KDE 4.4 RC 2 on Ubuntu 9.10.

Installation

First step in the process is to enable the Kubuntu repositories. In order to do so, bring up a terminal window by hitting ALT+F2 and typing gnome-terminal.

At the terminal, type the following command to add the Kubuntu PPA

Enter your password and you should see something like the one below. This suggests that we have added Kubuntu PPA repositories to the software sources.

Now in order to install KDE 4.4 RC on your machine which already has previous versions of KDE, type the following  command at the terminal:

However, if you don’t have previous versions of  KDE installed, type the following commands at the terminal.

This should install KDE 4.4 RC on your Ubuntu machine. All that is left is to log out and login again by choosing KDE under the session option at the login screen.

The following are a couple screenshots of KDE desktop environment.

 

KDE has a lot of eye candy, great themes, and wallpaper support. If you are an early adopter and itching to try out the new KDE 4.4 on your Ubuntu machine, this should get you started.