Relearning KDE

KDE SC is great in many, many ways, but I have found that some of those ways are anything but obvious. Nothing specific to KDE, though, as it happens with all kinds of software and devices nowadays. Users want the quick route to do their thing, which most often results in them using a tiny portion of the application or device functionality... After all, who reads a darn manual, right?

I personally think most devices and applications are overpowered these days (they offer way more than the average Joe or Jane could ever dream of), so it is perfectly fine to stick to those functionalities that make a difference. Having said so, I found that such "lazy" approach often makes me miss things that I do care about, pieces of functionality that I would love to use if I knew were there, and that is very much the case with KDE. Indeed, the K Desktop provides lots of power, sometimes more than I need myself, so I used to stick to the basics to get the job done. In doing so, I overlooked tons of great stuff I do use now, I simply didn't know better!

Guilty of making me learn some interesting KDE SC features is MARTY'S TYPEPAD, a very interesting blog which recently published a series of articles entitled: The Great Features of KDE Workspaces and Applications. These great articles go over a number of basic KDE features that, while basic, are still sometimes anything but obvious, and could easily be missed by the standard user (even advanced users).

Marty has completed five interesting articles so far and I very much encourage reading all of them, regardless of whether you use KDE or not. KDE users may find something they didn't know already, thus improving the way they work. Non KDE users may find reasons to give it a try... or a second chance.

Article 5 - GWENVIEW image viewer

Article 4 - KIO resource provider

Article 3 - KSNAPSHOT screenshot tool

Article 2 - KLIPPER clipboard manager

Article 1 - DOLPHIN file manager

Read on and relearn your KDE. Enjoy!