The final release will be available in three weeks

Jul 10, 2009 08:00 GMT  ·  By

The KDE community proudly announced last night, July 9th, the immediate availability of the second release candidate of KDE 4.3, the next-generation KDE desktop environment for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X platforms. KDE 4.3 RC2 contains a few bug fixes over the previous release, and it is once again intended to fix the remaining issues before the final release comes out, at the end of July, 2009. When it will be launched, KDE 4.3.0 will definitely be the most modern, beautiful and attractive desktop environment!

"KDE 4.3 focuses on polishing and completing the user experience by providing a modern and beautiful Free working environment. This release candidate only contains very few changes compared to the first RC." - was stated in the official release announcement.

Highlights of KDE 4.3:

· Integration of the Geolocation and PolicyKit services; · New eye-candy effects; · Revamped Run dialog; · New Plasma addons; · Lots of Plasma improvements; · Updated applications; ...and many more bugfixes!

Review image
KDE 4.3 RC2 - Image courtesy of the KDE Project
Currently the KDE 4 desktop environment ships with many packages, including web development applications, educational tools, administrative programs and more, all of which are available in over 50 languages.

About KDE

KDE is a powerful Free Software graphical desktop environment for Linux and Unix workstations. It combines ease of use, contemporary functionality and outstanding graphical design with the technological superiority of the Unix operating system. KDE is a network transparent contemporary desktop environment for UNIX workstations that seeks to meet the need for an easy-to-use desktop for Unix workstations, similar to the desktop environments found under the Mac OS X or Microsoft Windows.

Download KDE 4.3 RC2 right now from Softpedia. Remember that this is a development release and it should NOT be installed on production machines. It is intended to be used for testing purposes only.

The KDE 4.3 RC2 Live CD built on top of OpenSuSE 11 is also available for download from Softpedia.