K Desktop Environment
Getting KDE
As KDE is Free Software, you can download and install KDE in most cases free of charge. On this page can read below about various ways to get KDE.
Table of content
- General Information
- KDE 4.1 (recommended for early-adopting users)
- KDE 4.2 (Beta1) (recommended for beta testers and experienced users)
- KDE 3.5 (recommended for release for more conservative users)
- Trying KDE
- KDE on Windows and Mac OS X
General Information
KDE's software consists of a large number of individual applications and a desktop workspace as a shell to run these applications. You can run KDE application just fine on any desktop environment. KDE applications are built to integrate well with your system's components. By using also KDE's workspace, you get even better integration of your applications with the working environment while lowering system resource needs.
KDE runs fine on most semi-modern PCs. While built with modern hardware in mind, KDE will run fine even on on older machines with more constrained resources since it degrades nicely.Trying KDE
Applications
KDE applications run fine on most Linux,
BSD systems. In these cases, the recommended way to
install a KDE application is to use your operating system's
software management tool to install KDE. KDE comes included
with most Free operating systems.
The Workspace
Trying out a desktop workspace like KDE can seem a daunting task. Installing Linux or BSD requires a commitment that you may not be quite ready to give yet. Try KDE provides a list of resources for alternative methods of trying a KDE desktop and applications, some of them without even needing to have Linux or BSD installed. The Try KDE page shows how you can give KDE a spin.
Installing KDE on your system is easy if you use the major Linux
distributions; it's included
in nearly all of them! Find out more about distributions shipping KDE
Distributions Shipping KDE
There are also several vendors that ship KDE on CD-ROM. Here is a
partial list:
KDE on CD-ROM
Here are some quick links to binary packages. If you wonder why favorite distribution is not on the list, read the KDE Package Policy first.
KDE 4.1
KDE 4.1 is the version for early-adopting users. Please see the KDE 4.1.3 Info Page for details.
Currently, the following binary packages are known:
- Debian KDE 4.1.3 packages are available in the experimental repository. More details can be found in the installation instructions. For Lenny users there are backports available at http://kde4.debian.net
-
Fedora KDE 4.1.3 packages are available:
- Fedora 10
- Fedora 9: These packages do not include a KDE4 build of kdepim. A KDE4 build of kdepim is available from the unstable repository at the kde-redhat project.
- Rawhide development repository: These packages may depend on other Rawhide packages and are therefore not suitable for installation on previous releases.
- Kubuntu packages are included in the backports repository for 8.10 (intrepid-backports). More details can be found in the announcement on Kubuntu.org.
- openSUSE packages are available for openSUSE 11.0 (one-click install), for openSUSE 10.3 (one-click install) and openSUSE Factory (one-click install). A KDE Four Live CD with these packages is also available.
- Magic Linux KDE 4.1.3 packages are available for Magic Linux 2.1. See the release notes for detailed information and the FTP tree for packages.
KDE 4.1 consists of the following source packages:
| Location | Size | MD5 Sum |
|---|---|---|
| kdeaccessibility-4.1.3 | 6,1MB | 85011b7ec7c8591f492f4dbf444408b3 |
| kdeadmin-4.1.3 | 1,8MB | a1b3c8e3c1dccbfff477dc6939f78d5e |
| kdeartwork-4.1.3 | 41MB | 131ffcd97e392053a65c9e97161508f9 |
| kdebase-4.1.3 | 4,3MB | cfeea9d5eb9004810b6e8a67ae937e6b |
| kdebase-runtime-4.1.3 | 50MB | 9fe84d0fa5fac149ba6cefeb004775ac |
| kdebase-workspace-4.1.3 | 46MB | 42233b75ce73eaaacae61c0d5db8befa |
| kdebindings-4.1.3 | 4,6MB | 653539f01d018b746a5131beb11fc205 |
| kdeedu-4.1.3 | 55MB | 8b513d6dde79119842eef059550c0123 |
| kdegames-4.1.3 | 31MB | d6b2d87808696bf0a7364cca86f360bb |
| kdegraphics-4.1.3 | 3,3MB | 62513c5d92fae359705266eb2365c526 |
| kdelibs-4.1.3 | 8,8MB | 562090d3c1d891081bc4a392e0b513ac |
| kdemultimedia-4.1.3 | 1,4MB | 5ccc4ff4b5a53c85db36e05bfdb2f01a |
| kdenetwork-4.1.3 | 7,1MB | 0a560e1c117049735542a89692480679 |
| kdepim-4.1.3 | 13MB | 655ff3c21c36a3378723bc2afb8cb434 |
| kdepimlibs-4.1.3 | 1,9MB | e6db27f7074d31cdad26fb705ece2825 |
| kdeplasma-addons-4.1.3 | 3,9MB | 72d2d1c95b55fadbbce0e9cd201f1b80 |
| kdesdk-4.1.3 | 4,8MB | 77787a59f74b1b5ed71b49b8643a75f9 |
| kdetoys-4.1.3 | 1,3MB | ca5a74c6ae9f4c2f5e5b70e3c7711c78 |
| kdeutils-4.1.3 | 2,2MB | 2b0eee36ad16f442c9fae85ac0bfc168 |
| kdewebdev-4.1.3 | 2,5MB | 9c283ffce644a8dfa8868b237ad92435 |
KDE 4.2 (Beta1)
KDE 4.2 is currently under development and targetted for more broad user base. However, as it is currently not relased as a final version it might contain more bugs and is generally not recommended for normal users. However, feedback for those beta releases is highly appreciated.
Please see the KDE 4.2 Beta1 Info Page for details.
Currently, the following binary packages are known:
- openSUSE packages are available for openSUSE 11.0 (one-click install), for openSUSE 10.3 (one-click install) and openSUSE Factory (one-click install). A KDE Four Live CD with these packages is also available.
- Pardus KDE 4.2 Beta 1 packages are available for Pardus 2008 in Pardus test repository. Also all source PiSi packages are in Pardus SVN.
KDE 4.1 consists of the following source packages:
| Location | Size | MD5 Sum |
|---|---|---|
| kdeaccessibility-4.1.80 | 6,4MB | 40b4d8b4f9f40fb57f72d50d66798a1d |
| kdeadmin-4.1.80 | 1,9MB | 820fb72d34ee5106818785e9c761df8f |
| kdeartwork-4.1.80 | 41MB | 5016d1e9c01e9e090c9d83e5da3b47bc |
| kdebase-4.1.80 | 4,3MB | 018039c8c51d92ace5365a8d6cd66fbf |
| kdebase-runtime-4.1.80 | 60MB | f32b010ddd2840c192413a170927d1d3 |
| kdebase-workspace-4.1.80 | 47MB | 404a67541864085fbb6585afab7b95d2 |
| kdebindings-4.1.80 | 4,7MB | 4e690a2686d8c10f8a15eb2b4de2f729 |
| kdeedu-4.1.80 | 58MB | 1532cc5ec3962ae462f2dc56db17fec9 |
| kdegames-4.1.80 | 36MB | 58e1c8f00b291a00320437361c1a3dca |
| kdegraphics-4.1.80 | 3,4MB | 17560a0c7df4e22eb12031050498961c |
| kdelibs-4.1.80 | 11MB | dc33ed72409eb2fecd760a66ea01bb0c |
| kdemultimedia-4.1.80 | 1,5MB | 65e44c87a7f3cc0ffebe3998683f22ee |
| kdenetwork-4.1.80 | 7,4MB | 5ec0fc0bde3239e15af8b487b70ac045 |
| kdepim-4.1.80 | 13MB | dccd455696af39a8557b3a0c890a316d |
| kdepimlibs-4.1.80 | 1,5MB | 8090760c6a43756160d1436676f1a305 |
| kdeplasma-addons-4.1.80 | 4,4MB | 801c6177f66d89078387943938dffc60 |
| kdesdk-4.1.80 | 5,2MB | 9d2bdeb07fb54287b1cc47ec0a7ecf69 |
| kdetoys-4.1.80 | 1,3MB | 5354d6afcc6b228dd85bd40f83afd0d0 |
| kdeutils-4.1.80 | 2,1MB | 72663bbe1261ad6a2930a15031093b3e |
| kdevelop-3.9.83 | 2,9MB | ed66a2f24d8fdc7a86067ccb9880c27b |
| kdevplatform-0.9.83 | 1,1MB | e4e155450574ebebbd49e4e6834ae542 |
| kdewebdev-4.1.80 | 3,3MB | 879d589dbc3fa4be861b0be0ea447d76 |
| phonon-4.2.80 | 548KB | 885d63087d9861d1660888f10cadd1c5 |
KDE 3 series
KDE 3.5 is the more mature version of KDE. For more conservative users, this is the recommended version of KDE.Please see the KDE 3.5.10 Info Page for details.
Currently, the following binary packages are known:
- Debian
- Debian's 3.5.9 packages contain most of the changes in 3.5.10.
- Fedora
- KDE 3.5.10 has been pushed as an update for Fedora 8 and 9. The Fedora 8 update includes all of KDE 3.5.10, the Fedora 9 update only the applications which were shipped as KDE 3 versions, not KDE 4 versions.
- Kubuntu
- Mandriva Mandriva packages are available in the Cooker development version.
-
openSUSE
The openSUSE KDE packages are developed in the openSUSE Build Service. Please read this page for how to upgrade your KDE installation.
- openSUSE 11.0 YUM repository (64bit and 32bit)
- openSUSE 10.3 YUM repository (64bit and 32bit)
- openSUSE 10.2 YUM repository (64bit and 32bit)
KDE 3.5.10 consists of the following source packages:
| Location | Size | MD5 Sum |
|---|---|---|
| arts-1.5.10 | 950kB | 6da172aab2a4a44929b5fdfc30fa3efc |
| kdeaccessibility-3.5.10 | 8.3MB | feb1582b9acc573cef8cd357d8a7bc1d |
| kdeaddons-3.5.10 | 1.6MB | c69d082407b2c1bb46d078f8ac5d2bea |
| kdeadmin-3.5.10 | 2.0MB | eb23c52c945f31a48f2c9df4330a1262 |
| kdeartwork-3.5.10 | 15MB | 6e6f089dc0f1dabb0f138641600d0b59 |
| kdebase-3.5.10 | 23MB | 88237188271fbf1e6bcd40180a75d953 |
| kdebindings-3.5.10 | 5.4MB | 7d5119160ac3688ac1a63954d03ab4a8 |
| kdeedu-3.5.10 | 28MB | 1b1466bf4cb0a59b1abd8613a2588142 |
| kdegames-3.5.10 | 10MB | 5533b3886cbb74180933fe3f3d209031 |
| kdegraphics-3.5.10 | 7.0MB | a09094b5357d8cd5c49d45b5d291dcfe |
| kdelibs-3.5.10 | 14MB | 43cd55ed15f63b5738d620ef9f9fd568 |
| kdemultimedia-3.5.10 | 6.0MB | 8e8cd7f41d37f7da8bd239048abf3516 |
| kdenetwork-3.5.10 | 8.9MB | 634b2e914661faebae79d95dcc6c5bfa |
| kdepim-3.5.10 | 13MB | fc93e458a8eec8131ede56cff30c28b2 |
| kdesdk-3.5.10 | 5.0MB | ad711d1ce09242bd13b73a9a005f3143 |
| kdetoys-3.5.10 | 3.1MB | 1da4383e2d520dfd572edb33b708822d |
| kdeutils-3.5.10 | 2.9MB | 038f94275f42df3cae89735506ffbc0b |
| kdevelop-3.5.3 | 9.0MB | a2cdb5f71952386798175f8ce5a3e196 |
| kdewebdev-3.5.10 | 5.9MB | 7188f351158ca5a7613c3de4a6854b37 |
There are instructions available for building the source code. Building from source code is not recommended for normal users as it requires knowledge of software development tools.
Windows and Mac OS X
KDE under these Operating Systems is experimental state. Things might, or might not work properly at this point in time.
An installer for KDE applications on Windows is available on windows.kde.org. These are experimental packages. On TechBase you can find detailed installation instructions.
For Apple's OSX, there are technology previews of some applications available on mac.kde.org.