Linux Library

Facebook Twitter Gplus RSS
Home Reviews Mandriva 2010.2 KDE Review
formats

Mandriva 2010.2 KDE Review

Published on April 8, 2011 by in Reviews
Mandriva 2010.2 Screenshot

Way back in ancient times when Mandriva was still Mandrake this was actually the first distribution of Linux I recall ever using. Things have come a long way since then but unfortunately I have neglected using Mandriva in recent years. So I decided it was time for some nostalgia. These days Mandriva is an excellent distribution, definitely up to par with all of the rest. Mandriva offers extensive consumer services and business solutions, but for the everyday Linux user there is also the Mandriva free download DVD ISO. This DVD comes with optional KDE or Gnome desktops, and wide selection of popular free software.

More Mandriva 2010.2 Features

  • A wide range of software, with over 20,000 packages to choose from.
  • Mandriva Linux is available in over 70 languages thanks to the excellent community.
  • A small selection of desktop themes to get you started.
  • Lots of useful Internet tools including Akregator, KTorrent, Kopete, Chromium, and Firefox web browser.
  • Everything is neatly arranged and very easy to understand for new users. Even the layout of the menu is kept crisp and not bloated.
  • You can easily install new software with Rpmdrake which is the default package management tool for Mandriva.

The Mandriva 2010.2 KDE Desktop

Mandriva 2010.2 Screenshot

The Mandriva KDE desktop is quite simple you will see a handful of desktop icons, your main panel, and your desktop toolbox icon in the top right corner of your desktop. You can click on your Klauncher menu which is the first item on the left side of your panel, here you can launch applications, install new ones, or configure your computer. To install new software just open your menu and click install and remove software and Rpmdrake will open. You can also use this tool to update your packages and keep your system secure as well.

Mandriva 2010.2 Screenshot

It is pretty easy to add new applets or other items to your panels or your desktop. In general just right click what you want to configure. Or you can click on the desktop toolbox icon in the top right corner of your desktop. From the desktop toolbox you can also arrange applets or icons on your desktop into activities or containers if you prefer that style. But make sure your desktop is unlocked by right clicking on your desktop toolbox and clicking the unlock widgets button. You can right click or left click on your desktop toolbox icon for a different selection of options.

Mandriva 2010.2 Screenshot

Like other popular versions of Linux Mandriva also has multiple virtual desktops that you can use when things become cluttered.
There is a workspace switcher applet in your desktop next to the open window area. This applet makes moving windows between workspaces and switching back and forth very simple. Also if you want to browse files on your computer you can just double click on the home icon that sits on your desktop, then Dolphin will open automatically. Dolphin is a very effective file browser that is common on in many popular distributions.

Mandriva 2010.2 KDE Appearance

Mandriva 2010.2 Screenshot

The fastest way to adjust your desktop settings in Mandriva KDE is to click on the screwdriver and wrench icon near the left side of your main panel, right by your menu. This will open the system settings window where all of your settings are neatly arranged into sensible categories. All of the important settings that will affect your desktop appearance can be found in the look and feel section and everything is fairly simple to adjust. The desktop settings window is packed with options so make sure to take some time to get things looking the way you want.

Mandriva 2010.2 Screenshot

Inside the look and feel section of the system settings window click on appearance first. Here you can adjust the look of your windows in many ways, change icon themes, colors, and your splash screen. Even meticulously adjust window radio buttons and window fonts if you want to. Check out all of the options available in the tab categories on the left hand side of the window. There are not many default themes available but you can easily download new themes and styles directly through the appearance options interface which is also quite convenient.

Mandriva 2010.2 Screenshot

If you want to configure your screensaver or enable desktop compositing open your system settings window from your panel again. Then click on the desktop icon in the look and feel section. The main tab is for your desktop effects where you can enable compositing with no trouble at all. There is also a screesaver tab with a vast selection to choose from. Other basic options can be found here also.

Link to this post!
 
Tags: , ,
 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share on LinkedIn
10 Comments  comments 
  • Travelinrob

    Looks the same as it did in 2008.

  • UserMandriva

    Mandriva is a good distribution.
    We can set the server services to enable and configure the firewall options with very detailed.

  • Maxime

    Funny enough I had never time for Mandriva however, today Mandriva Gnome 2010.2 is the longest serving Distro on my laptop. Mandriva deserves a better rating because it is very good, clean and professional.

  • Fred

    I use mandriva at work, and at home. For those simple reasons.

    Material detection is far superior than Ubuntu and it’s derivative.
    Pulse Audio is less buggy.
    We use citrix here and all you have to do is download the RPM from the citrix website to have a working thin client in no time at all. (that doesn’t work so well for Ubuntu derivative)
    Better package management and dependency management witch can get very complicated very fast with other distribution.

    It would be nice if you have the time to really put this distribution to work.

    tips: install the dkms package first and also add the PLF repository for all the multimedia goodness. Easyurpmi is your friend :)

  • http://lnux.wordpress.com kelisa

    Mandriva the distro is good, Mandriva the company have a lot of problem.

  • Toza

    Mandriva is great distro.

  • Amanda

    After extreme disappointment with Ubuntu 11.04 and its Unity “desktop” I’ve first tried Kubuntu and found out that I actually like KDE very much. Others suggested me to check out Mandriva as the best KDE-based distribution and that’s why I use it now. And boy I like it a lot. It really has much better support for hardware, all worked right out of the box which never happened with Ubuntu. And I love the Mandriva Control Center. It also works a lot more stable than Kubuntu. The only thing bothering me currently is that it doesn’t have the latest version of KDE. I guess I’ll have to be patient and wait for next version release.

  • John

    I agree that Mandriva 2010.2 is a good KDE distribution. I use it myself. But I can give a tip abot the latest Pardus 2011 to. Its a nice alternative for those who like KDE. Mostly because all media codecs etc.. are pre-installed. If you want same in Mandriva you must pay for the Powerpack version.
    Its a Turkish developed distribution but they got a international version for most of the big languages as English, french, german to.

    • MandrivaWorks

      If you want same in Mandriva you must pay for the Powerpack version.–> This is not true. You have Mandriva One if you want all your codecs and privative stuff installed (flash, mp3, graphic drivers) . Powerpack is for users who want to hel the company AND have some paid applications (Fluendo DVD Reader,Fluendo Codecs)….

      With Mandriva 2011 you’ll have also all the codecs included too.

  • Michael Charlton

    I decided to go back to the Mandriva Powerpack. Ubuntu 11.04 is just plain ugly. It was ugly before, but now it’s even worse. The pink and orange hue of the background mixed with the dark grey top panel is now paired with an oversized dock full of retro 1997 pixillated icons on the left side of my screen. I can’t get rid of it. Now instead of my apps being listed in alphabetical order, I now have to type in the app name in a search field…only I have to do it a certain way, or my OS won’t understand. Oh yeah, When I partitioned my hard drive to install Ubuntu, I failed to recognize that the OS formatted it in such a way that only Ubuntu recognizes it as a bootable partition. I discovered that when I tried to install Mandriva. I have 3 OSs’, but only 2 will boot.

© Linux Library