The second beta release of what will become Kubuntu 12.04 LTS has been released, less than 30 days before the final stable version is made available for public download.
Aside from this traditional desktop distribution, the Kubuntu project also released the second beta of Kubuntu-Active, a version specially designed for tablet computers. Since that comes as a separate download, screen shots from a test installation will be posted soon.
The following screen shots were taken from a test installation of Kubuntu 12.04 LTS beta 2 in a virtual environment. A detailed review, from test installations on real hardware, will be published when the final stable version is released.
Here are some screen shots: (Want to test it yourself after viewing these screen shots? Download an installation image from here.
This is the default desktop. That wallpaper is downright ugly. Hope they find a more visually appealing one for the final release.
When will these guys drop the Kickoff menu and give us something better?
Talking about something better, the Appmenu QML is available. This is the default view. There are no entries in the Favorites column.
The desktop showing the applications view of Appmenu QML. Adding applications to your Favorites is easy.
And removing them is just as easy.
Adding widgets to the panel in the traditional desktop.
A view of the desktop from the KDE Plasma Netbook interface.
A view of the desktop from the KDE Plasma Netbook interface, showing installed Internet applications.
Adding widgets from the KDE Plasma Netbook interface.
Firefox is not the default Web browser. This is what you get when you click on its icon in the menu.