First KDE 4.8 release candidate available

The KDE project developers have published the first release candidate (RC) of version 4.8 of the KDE Software Compilation (KDE SC). No new features have been added to the open source desktop since the second beta version in early December; instead, the developers have focused on fixing a number of bugs found in previous builds.

Differences between KDE 4.8 and the current stable 4.7 release include the integration of Qt Quick in Plasma Workspaces and a complete overhaul of the Dolphin file manager, which is now designed to be more clearly laid out and much faster. Other changes include the introduction of KSecretService as a common password manager and stability and performance improvements.

Further information about the first RC can be found in the official release announcement and on the KDE SC 4.7.95 Info Page. Source code for self-compilation and binary packages for various Linux distributions are available to download from the project's site. A second and final release candidate is scheduled for 4 January, with the final version arriving on 25 January 2012.

KDE is licensed under a combination of the LGPLv2, BSD, MIT and X11 licences for core libraries and the GPLv2 or GPLv3 for applications. The current stable release is KDE SC 4.7.4 from earlier this month.

See also:

• KDE wallpaper contest announced, a report from The H.
• KDE celebrates 15th birthday, a report from The H.

(crve)