Software Update: KDE Software Compilation 4.4

Tuesday finally released the final release of version 4.4.0 of the KDE Software Compilation. This popular desktop environment used to be known as the K Desktop Environment, but the developers now believe that KDE Software Compilation covers the load better. KDE is primarily developed for Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris, but there are versions for it too Windows and Mac OS X. It comes with a standard desktop, including fifteen packages of applications, including a personal information manager, multimedia, administrative and network management programs, and games. Below is an excerpt from the announcement for version 4.4:

KDE Software Compilation 4.4.0 (Codename: “Caikaku”) Released

KDE announces the immediate availability of the KDE Software Compilation 4.4, “Caikaku”, bringing an innovative collection of applications to Free Software users. Major new technologies have been introduced, including social networking and online collaboration features, a new netbook-oriented interface and infrastructural innovations such as the KAuth authentication framework. According to KDE’s bug-tracking system, 7293 bugs have been fixed and 1433 new feature requests were implemented. The KDE community would like to thank everybody who has helped to make this release possible.

Read the Visual Guide To KDE Software Compilation 4.4 for more details on the improvements in 4.4 or read on for an overview.

KDE Software Compilation 4.4 screenshot, click on the image for a larger version.