14 DAY TRIAL // Kubuntu 17.04 Beta 2 (Final Beta) is also out as part of yesterday's Ubuntu 17.04 Final Beta release, and it looks like it ships with some of the latest, recently released KDE technologies.
The biggest new feature of Kubuntu 17.04 Beta 2 appears to be the KDE Plasma 5.9 desktop environment, which is accompanied by KDE Applications 16.12.3 software suite and KDE Frameworks 5.31.0 collection of over 70 add-on libraries for Qt 5. The Calligra 3.0.0.1 office suite is also included, fully ported to the KDE Frameworks 5 technologies.
"Kubuntu comes with KDE Applications 16.12.3 containing all your favorite apps from KDE, with the exception of PIM and related products," read the release notes. "Most applications have been ported to KDE Frameworks 5 but those which aren't should fit in seamlessly."
Among some of the KDE apps that are installed by default in the Kubuntu 17.04 Beta 2 release, we can mention the Krita digital painting tool, K3B CD/DVD burning software, Okular PDF and document reader, Kdevelop 5.0.x integrated development environment, and many others, all ported to Qt 5 and KDE Frameworks 5.
LibreOffice 5.3.0 and Firefox 52.0 are included by default
Besides all those cool and powerful KDE applications, Kubuntu 17.04 Beta 2 is also coming with some non-KDE apps, such as the LibreOffice 5.3.0 office suite and Mozilla Firefox 52.0 web browser, which are installed by default and can be found in all the other official editions of the upcoming Ubuntu 17.04 (Zesty Zapus) operating system.
Early adopters can download the Kubuntu 17.04 Beta 2 Live ISO images for either 64-bit or 32-bit PCs right now from our website. Don't forget to report any bugs you may encounter while using the operating system, and try to keep in mind that this is a pre-release version, not suitable for deployment in production environments.