Kubuntu 10.04.4 LTS user reviews

Being a long-time Opensuse/KDE fan for my desktop, I am using Ubuntu for my HTPC as it is simple and boots fast. Decided to give Kubuntu a go because I'm experiencing some problems with SUSE, and I must say I am amazed. Compared to Opensuse :

* Ktorrent is working perfectly (was always slow in suse)
* Boot-time is much faster
* Trackmania works perfectly under wine (first time ever I got it to work under Linux)
* Various programs that used to crash regularly under suse don't crash anymore (f.i. anki, ktorrent..)
* Very easy to get multimedia working
* I use about 4-5 OS at the same time, all on different partitions. Suse's grub install never gets it right, I always have to tweak it to get access to all my OS. (K)ubuntu gets it right from the first time

And off course, I can benefit now from software that was difficult to install in Suse, like for instance Tvheadend. KPackagekit doesn't work, but with Synaptic installed it's a piece of cake.

For my needs, this is an impressive distro !

Wow, i have to say. I have a standard DELL notebook and all the boot process till the desktop is loaded is just 9-10 seconds!. KDE 4.4 is solid as a Rock.

I'm just fine with it.

After upgrade to 10.04, KAddressbook/Kontact not working satisfactorily. Whole sysytem also slowed down considerable including boot time and shutdown time. Previous version 9.10 was way better. Is it because of KDE issues. Hope it gets better. I like Kubuntu but might go back to Windows as the time lost in waiting fo things to happen is too too much.

Have been using since 8.04. After installing 10.04 lots of issues. Very slow in starting and problem with knetwork manager for WiFi connectivity. Installed Wicd to get WiFi working.
After a few days of use feel it is still a bit buggy, though am confident that the 10.04 will eventually be better than Windows 7

I\'ve been using Kubuntu for two or three years now and have been generally very pleased with the releases. The 10.04 release however, has left me scratching my head. In general I love it but there are three things that are driving me crazy:
(a) There appears to be some incompatability between kde and nvida and perhaps java. Whenever I use the three together, my system slows to a point were it is almost unusable. I\'ve backed out the nvidia driver and it performs normally, but I sure do miss its features.

(b) For the life of me, I can\'t figure out how to get the KMAIL to read my contacts. The new address book technology seems badly broken as I frequently get errors when I start kontact. I\'ve learned to resolve them but still not able to access my contacts.

(c) I run windows under vmware and about 50% of the time I get an an error that /dev/vmmon does not exist or something similar.

All the new eye candy is nice, but I really need a reliable desktop I can use to get work done. This release has me seriously considering going back to ... dare I say ... Windoze ... uhg.

I hope that Canonical will make some changes in the next release of Kubuntu that will more or less put it on par with Ubuntu in terms of branding and feature sets such as the Ubuntu One service and music store.

My full review:

Kubuntu Linux 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx)
http://desktoplinuxreviews.com/2010/05/03/kubuntu-linux-10-04-lts-lucid-lynx/

Nvidia drivers don't work, desktop effects disabled, no support for Xinerama, Nepomuk/Strigi don't work, akonadi non-functional. This release is an even worse disaster than 9.10. I'm done with Kubuntu.

BEST Ubuntu variant available. Prefer it to Ubuntu. Boot time much improved and overall a very stable system.

I have been running Kubuntu since 8.04. It is always exciting to see what the new ones have to offer. 10.04 really seems great with the exception of bluetooth not working at all for me and something with the hal daemon is messing up every time i try to watch a DVD. I would imagine that the hal issue will be fixed soon via updates and i think that bluetooth is over rated anyway. 10.04 loads really fast. On my old bone of a machine it only takes about 20 seconds which is leaps and bounds above any of their previous editions that i have had. All of the programs i have installed have worked correctly out of the box. I am not crazy for the Software Management system though i always install Synaptic. I just like it better, especially the fact that it actually tells you how big the download will be before it starts the download. A lot of people who use linux dis on the KDE desktop saying it looks to much like Windows. Well i have always liked Windows but can\'t stand their crap license, all the viruses, and fact it self disintegrates after say 3 months with the only thing to do to really fix it is a fresh install. But that aside after using KDE for a few years now both kde3 and kde4 i don\'t think it is anything close to windows.

Fast and fairly stable, lots of eyecandy and great aesthetics, but still has a few usability issues like with Bluetooth, WiFi and the Kickoff Menu which were also present in 9.10(but not in Ubuntu)- generally KDE 4.4 issues as well some poor default configurations. Though to see a KDE 4 distro GUI done right, they could take a look at PCLinuxOS 2010.
Lacks certain excellent features like the Ubuntu Software Center and Ubuntu One seen its GNOME counterpart Ubuntu. And KPackagekit is nowhere as easy to use as Synaptic.

boot time very slow