Discovering KDE - Part 2 - KDE's defaults applications

1 - Dolphin

Dolphin is KDE's file manager. It is moist probably the most feature full file manager I've ever used, but it still manages to look pretty nice. By default, there is no menu bar, only the classic tool bar, sidebar, and main panel combo. The default view is actually pretty simple and legible, with big icons, a few buttons on the toolbar, and a zoom slider in the bottom, which resizes icons in a very nice way. CLick the "'control" button, and you get a glimpse of the options there. For example, there are 3 more panels you can activate here: a folder list, a preview pane, and even a console.

Then there are the preferences: you can tweak sorting modes, replace icons with previews for any type of file, choose if you want to get confirmation pop-ups for actions such as emptying the trash can, you can set the startup folder when you open DOlphin, tweak every view mode's defaults, select which services you want to enable in the right click menu, and even configure the behavior of the trash.

THis is a lot to dig into, but the theme here is clear: Dolphin is very simple by default, but can be tweaked to work exactly like you want it to. But then again, isnt't that the main selling point of KDE ?

2 - Discover

Discover is KDE's default Package Manager, or App Store if you prefer. I can't say I really like it all that much. In the looks department, I felt it was a bit bare bones, with an icon, a title, and an install button. It also handles updates, and presents each package as a separate update, which some people may like, but I personalyl. prefer the way elementary OS does things, grouping the updates by applications or system, and giving you the option to look at the detail. Discover does separate packages between applications, application addons, and plasma addons, which makes it easier to filter what you'd like to install. Unfortunately, just like the AppCenter on elementary OS, it does not provide a graphical interface to install system packages.

3 - Konsole

i don't use a terminal that often, but when I do, I like it to look pretty and work flawlessly. Konsole, by default, is perfectly suitable, but then again, it does look like a terminal... THe font is very small by default, the pure black background and green prompt are a bit too 90's for me, and create a pretty harsh contrast with the grey menubar. It does look dated by default. Obviously, as with all KDE apps, you can pretty much customize the profile to look like whatever you want ! I switched to the solarized theme immediately, and increased the font size, and I got something much nicer to work with.

4 - System Monitor

I always use a system monitor, whether it's for measuring performance, killing a rogue process, or simply to look at pretty charts ticking up and down as my proc ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxXYXW4hvns