KDE 4.0: From this...I have been using KDE 4 even before it was a golden release. I started using it when KDE 4.0 was in the betas. I was impressed with it, especially plasma, even though it was extremely limited. You couldn't move the widgets around it, you couldn't change the size...it was a big giant panel fixed to the bottom of the screen. There wasn't even a native Kontact program! When KDE 4.0 was released, people complained saying it should have waited six more months. I agree with the developers releasing KDE 4.0 "early". If you don't release it, people won't test it, so they won't report bugs. It simply slows down the whole system.

After six months, KDE 4.1 was released. It fixed many problems, but it still had numerous bugs and wasn't as flexible as KDE 3. KWin's built in compositing was also quite lacking. People said "Let's wait six more months". So they did, and KDE 4.2 was released. It fixed just about everything. It fixed many of the bugs, it made plasma more integrated (my favourite feature) and made KWin faster, thus taking up less system resources. The system settings program was also redone to look more "Oxygen" like. Also, a plasma applet called "Lancelot" was released soon after KDE 4.2. It is an alternate menu, a replacement for the default Kickoff. I personally use it, and like it more than Kickoff. My favourite feature is the "no click" menu activation. I no longer have to click on menus, I just hover over a little icon for half a second and it moves on.

KDE 4.2: ...To this!I am impressed with the fast advancement of KDE 4. It started out as something that no one had hope in to a full replacement to the now obselete KDE 3 in just a year. Now I am  waiting for the next release, KDE 4.3, which has many more enhancements and bug fixes.