KDE SC 4.5.0 Beta 2 Available for Testing

The second beta release of the upcoming KDE Software Compilation (KDE SC) 4.5.0 was announced last evening, June 9th, by the KDE developers. Dubbed Cake, KDE SC 4.5.0 Beta 2 fixes over 1,600 bugs since the first beta release. KDE Software Compilation 4.5 is composed of the KDE Plasma Workspace, the KDE Applications and the KDE Development Platform. The final release of KDE SC 4.5.0 will be available in August 2010. Kubuntu/Ubuntu packages are also available for testing (see below for installation instructions).

Highlights of KDE SC 4.5.0 Beta 2:

· Revamped notification area;
· Added KWin-Tiling effect, which automatically places windows next to each other;
· WebKit web browser engine can now be used in Konqueror;
· Improved overall stability of the software components in KDE SC 4.5;
· Many other amazing, new features!

KDE Software Compilation 4.5.0 will ship with many packages, including web-development applications, educational tools, administrative programs, and more, all of which will be available in over 50 languages.

How to test KDE SC 4.5.0 Beta 2:

Ubuntu 10.04 LTS users can test KDE SC 4.5.0 Beta 2 by following the instructions below:

- Go to Main Menu -> System -> Administration and open the "Software Sources" application. Type your password and hit Enter;
- Go to the second tab, "Other Software," click the 'Add' button and paste the following line:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kubuntu-ppa/beta/ubuntu lucid main

...and click the 'Add Source' button;
- Go to the "Authentication" tab, click the "Import Key File" button and add this GPG Key (right-click on the link and select "Save Link As" to save the file on your desktop);
- Close the "Software Sources" application and you will be immediately asked if you want to reload the information about available software, so click the 'Reload' button and wait until the "Software Sources" window disappears;
- Go to Main Menu -> System -> Administration and open the "Synaptic Package Manager" application. Let it load and search for kubuntu-desktop. Double-click the entry and install it;
- It is recommended that you reboot your system after the update process.

The KDE SC 4.5.0 Beta 2 sources can be downloaded right now from Softpedia. Remember that this is a beta release and it should NOT be installed on production machines. It is intended to be used for testing purposes only. Please report bugs to bugs.kde.org.