Meet KDE 4.7

In exact accordance with the schedule, on the 27th, the KDE "summer release" was presented to the public.

Details under the cut


Version 4.7 has added many new features, improved stability and performance.
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Major changes in the new version:

- Since the release of KDE SC 4.6, about 12,000 bugs have been fixed.
- The Oxygen icon set has been updated; panel elements (for example, a clock) now look more uniform compared to the notification area. The updated Oxygen-Gtk theme allows you to more fully integrate GTK applications into KDE;
- KWin window manager has been significantly reworked: the code has been cleaned, support for OpenGL ES 2.0 has been added, which allows KWin to run on mobile devices, a new shadow system has been added. Improved support for outdated equipment. The optimization made it possible to increase productivity and improve responsiveness;
- improved "rooms", the widget of which control is now by default located in a more visible place on the Plasma panel. “Rooms” expands the workspace by providing intelligent ways to group applications, widgets, and documents;
- improved network management: added experimental support for NetworkManager 0.9, which makes it possible to work with Bluetooth-modems, 3G, VPN, allows you to use MAC spoofing and other additional network settings;
- major changes were made to the Kickoff user interface, improved support for PulseAudio for KMix, a significant improvement in the interface and functionality.
- personal data manager, finally re-included in the general set of applications. Most of its components are ported to Akonadi. Improved stability, added support for new services;
- Improved the appearance of the file manager Dolphin: the default menu is hidden, the overall look has become more neat. Improved search capabilities, integration with version control systems;
Traditionally, a large number of innovations in the virtual globe Marble: support for voice navigation, a wizard for creating maps, additional extensions. Voice navigation is available in various languages. More complete information can be found in the list of changes Marble;
- the ability to compare images has been added to the Gwenview image viewer;
improvements in the Kate text editor;
- DigiKam 2.0 supports search and face recognition, image versioning, geotagging and much more.
- Zeitgeist support added to Phonon. VLC back-end is now considered stable and preferred for all operating systems, GStreamer is declared stable for Linux. The development of xine is stopped;
- expanded semantic abilities. Nepomuk has undergone significant processing, has become more stable and faster, and the API for applications is richer. Strigi now reads metadata in its own stream, which eliminates 35 errors associated with the fall of Dolphin and Konqueror;
- KWin provides an opportunity for application developers to block effects when running a full-screen application (relevant for OpenGL games and watching hardware-decoded video);
- GRUB2 support added to KDM;
- The KIO Proxy adds support for SOCKS, features for getting multiple proxy server addresses, as well as information about system proxy settings for Windows and Mac platforms.
- The KDE-Telepathy team is pleased to present a preliminary version of the new instant messaging solution built on the Telepathy platform. Still at an early stage of development, it now allows you to set up all kinds of accounts, including GTalk and Facebook Chat, and use them in everyday communication. The chat interface allows you to choose your favorite look (Adium themes are supported). A special panel widget is also available to monitor status.

Announcement on the project site