Screaming Penguin - Source Does Matter

KDE is planning on releasing version 2.0 in September, the developers pre-release (BETA 2) "Kleopatra" (1.9.1) is available now. KDE is a standards powerhouse that is enabling all types of desktop apps to easily interact and share information, thia makes for an ULTRA powerful environment. Combine the standards of CORBA, XML and UNICODE to build a desktop system on the QT libraries that relies on standards to seamlessly integrate API's and protocols that are NOT proprietary (jab jab M$) and you have a POWERHOUSE of a desktop. KDE 2.0 is the UNIX and LINUX desktop, and when Linux is ready to brandish KDE 2.0 and its realized application possibilities, the LINUX desktop will no longer be in question.

Check the features on this thing, this is how a desktop SHOULD BE DONE!

Kleopatra offers a large number of major technological improvements
to developers compared to the critically acclaimed KDE 1.x series. Chief
among these are the Desktop COmmunication Protocol (DCOP), the i/o libraries
(KIO), the component object model (KParts), an XML-based GUI class, and
the standards-compliant HTML rendering engine (KHTML).

• DCOP is a client-to-client communications protocol intermediated
  by a server. The protocol supports both message passing and remote procedure
  calls. The technology is used in KDE 2.0, for example, to direct application
  requests to instances of the application which are already running, thereby
  preventing multiple occurrences of the same application from running concurrently.
• KIO implements i/o in a separate process to permit a
  non-blocking GUI. The class is network transparent and hence can be used
  seamlessly to access HTTP, FTP, Gopher, POP, IMAP, NFS, SMB, LDAP and local
  files. Moreover, its modular and extensible design permits developers to
  "drop in" additional protocols, such as WebDAV, which will then automatically
  be available to all KDE applications. KIO also implements a trader which
  can locate handlers for specified mimetypes; these handlers can then be
  embedded within the requesting application using the KParts technology
  (described
  below).
• KParts, the KDE component object model, allows one
  process to embed another within itself. The technology handles all aspects
  of the embedding, such as positioning toolbars and inserting the proper
  menus when the embedded component is activated or deactivated. KParts can
  also interface with the KIO trader to locate available
  handlers for specific mimetypes or services/protocols. This technology
  is used extensively by the
  KOffice suite and
  Konqueror.
• The XML GUI employs XML to create and position menus,
  toolbars and possibly other aspects of the GUI. This technology offers
  developers and users the advantage of simplified configurability of these
  user interface elements across applications and automatic compliance with
  the
  KDE Standards
  and Style Guide irrespective of modifications to the standards.
• KHTML is an HTML 4.0 compliant rendering and drawing
  engine. The class supports the full gamut of current Internet technologies,
  including JavaScriptTM, Java®, HTML 4.0, CSS-2
  (Cascading Style Sheets), SSL (Secure Socket Layer for secure communications)
  and Netscape Communicator® plugins (for viewing FlashTM,
  RealAudioTM, RealVideoTM and similar technologies).
  The KHTML class can easily be used by an application as either a widget
  (using normal X Window parenting) or as a component (using the KParts
  technology). KHTML, in turn, has the capacity to embed components within
  itself using the KParts technology.

For the interested user, KDE 1.91 offers a fairly
stable desktop suitable for a non-critical environment. Users who would
like the opportunity to contribute to the further development of KDE can
use this release as a basis for offering suggestions and bug reports, or
those who are curious can evaluate the new frontier of the *nix desktop.
The attractions of Kleopatra to users are manifold and impressive. The
principal benefits to users lie in the cutting-edge technologies provided
by Konqueror, the KOffice
suite, KDE's enhanced customizability, and full Unicode support.

• Konqueror stands tall as the next-generation web
  browser, file manager and document viewer for KDE 2.0. Widely acclaimed
  as a technological break-through for the Linux desktop, Konqueror has a
  component-based architecture which combines the features and functionality
  of Internet Explorer®/Netscape Communicator®
  and Windows Explorer®. Konqueror supports all major Internet
  technologies supported by KHTML. In addition, Konqueror's
  network transparency offers seamless support for browsing Linux®
  NFS shares, Windows® SMB shares, HTTP pages, FTP directories
  as well as any other protocol for which a KIO plug-in
  is available.
• The KOffice suite, long ago heralded as a
  "killer
  app", is one of the most-anticipated Open Source projects. The suite
  consists of a spreadsheet application (KSpread), a vector drawing application
  (KIllustrator), a bitmap drawing application (KImageShop), a frame-based
  word-processing application (KWord), a chart and diagram application (KChart).
  Native file formats use XML, and work on filters for proprietary binary
  file formats is progressing. Combined with a powerful scripting language
  and the ability to embed individuals components within each other using
  the
  KParts technology, the KOffice suite will provide
  all the necessary functionality to all but the most demanding power users,
  at an unbeatable price -- free.
• KDE's customizability touches every aspect of this next-generation
  desktop. Kleopatra benefits from Qt's style
  engine, which permits developers and artists to create their own widget
  designs down to the precise appearance of a scrollbar, a button, a menu
  and more, combined with development tools which will largely automate the
  creation of these widget sets (note that the configuration files for the
  style engine will change in an incompatible way prior to the next KDE release
  scheduled for June 2000). Just to mention a few of the legion configuration
  options, users can choose among: numerous types of menu effects; a menu
  bar atop the display (Macintosh®-style) or atop each individual
  window (Windows-style); icon styles; system sounds; key bindings; languages;
  toolbar and menu composition; and much much more.
• KDE 2.0 supports Unicode at its very core, the outstanding
  Qt toolkit. In addition, KHTML support includes bidirectional scripts,
  such as Arabic and Hebrew, and Far Eastern languages (Chinese/Japanese/Korean).
  Combined with the 45 separate teams actively translating KDE into other
  languages, KDE 2.0 will truly be an international desktop.

  Kleopatra Press Release