Introduction

Feisty Fawn, the name of the latest development branch of Kubuntu, extends the new infrastructure that landed in Edgy Eft and branches out in some exciting new directions. Feature developments in the Feisty Fawn release include improvements to hardware support on laptops, desktops, and high-end servers and aggressive adoption of emerging desktop technologies.

Herd 4 is the fourth in a series of milestone CD images that will be released throughout the Feisty development cycle as images known to be reasonably free of CD-build or installer bugs. These images represent very current snapshots of Feisty. Kubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn Herd 4 releases can be downloaded from the following URL:

• http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/feisty/

NOTE: This is an alpha (pre-) release. Pre-release version of Feisty are NOT encouraged for anyone needing a stable system or for anyone who is not comfortable running into occasional, even frequent, breakage. Pre-release versions of Feisty ARE recommended for Kubuntu developers and those who want to help in testing, reporting, and fixing bugs.

Screenshots are available at: http://www.thecodingstudio.com/opensource/linux/?q=node/55

New In Feisty Herd 4

The Feisty Fawn Herd 4 CD release brings many new and exciting applications. For this latest release of Kubuntu 7.04, usability is the common theme. Additionally, there have been updates to many common applications and changes to the default database application in Kubuntu. With every new pre-release, updates will be documented allowing you to thoroughly test your Kubuntu 7.04 installation. Remember that all of these features are part of a pre-release version of Kubuntu and may still have issues. We ask that for any problems you encounter that you file a bug if one has yet to be filed for your symptoms.
https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+filebug

Adept Changes

Adept has had another overhaul here, bringing new features, bug fixes, and probably the biggest and most wanted change, Universe and Multiverse repositories being enabled by default.

Konqueror Flash Plugin Installer

Konqueror now allows installation of Flash 9 similar to the way other browsers do the installation.

Kopete Theme

Kopete has been updated, upgraded, and beautified. A new Contact List theme is being used as well as the TotallyClear theme by default.

Logout

KMenu -> Logout...

Herd 4 brings a new layout for the beginning of the logout or shutdown process. The next two sections highlight these changes which can be viewed by the images below.

Logout Dialog

The logout dialog has changed drastically from the previous layouts. Now the options are provided as large icons with identification text in a simple yet effective window. Note the new layout in the above image.

Logout fade

The new fade which can be noticed when logging out or shutting down and is totally different from previous releases. The new fade rolls down from the top and continues until the screen has a smoked look to it. Note the new fade appearing vertically halfway in the above image.

Support for more laptop buttons

Out-of-the-box experience for laptop users is improved by support for more laptop buttons. If your laptop has a special hotkey for Battery, Suspend, or Hibernate, it is very likely that these keys will perform the correct function (by using Guidance Power Manager). If this is not the case, please provide more information about your laptop hotkeys on the KubuntuLaptopKeycodes page, and we will try to improve it before final release.

The default action for Power button was also changed: on the system with a single logged-in user, it will ask the user about the action to be performed with new Logout dialog (as presented in the previous topic).

Network presence detection in KMail

If you use KNetworkManager (which is default since Herd3), then your Kontact/KMail will be aware about network presence and will not complain if you get disconnected from the network temporarily. It also will reconnect automatically when a network becomes available.

Kicker Layout

The Kicker in Kubuntu Herd 4 has changed drastically over the previous default layouts, making it not only cleaner but a lot more functional. For one, there are now only 3 large icons to the left of the Kicker (KMenu, Show Desktop, and System Menu), a compact quick launcher (Konqueror, Kontact, Amarok, and Kopete), and the typical system tray. This not only creates more room but also provides a quick way to launch the popular applications. NOTE: The following Kicker image has been cropped shrinking the overall length in order not to cause scrolling in your browser.

Apport

INFO: Apport

Apport is a crash handler for non-KDE applications and can report detail bug reports into the Ubuntu bug tracking system. To run it, kill a non-KDE application with -SEGV, and then run /usr/share/apport/apport-qt. Automatic integration is scheduled for the next Herd release.

Feedback

We want to hear what you think about the release of Kubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn Herd 4. Tell us if it Rocks, if it is just OK, or if it is flat out wrong. No matter the feedback, as long as it is in line with the Ubuntu Code of Conduct, we would like to hear it.

So what are you waiting for? Head on over to the Feedback Page and let us know!