KDE-Forum.org

I partly agree with you. I have thought for long that the gears logo should go because:
a) it gives an impression that KDE is only for geeks who understand completely how computers work
b) it reminds of old mechanic stuff, and I don't think that's what KDE4 should feel like
c) it's pretty ugly, even if it has had a few facelifts recently (compare it to that übercool gnome logo )

I also agree on app naming, that kwhatever naming scheme is just stupid. Colors need an overhaul too, currently there's only different shades of blue, and that is not only boring, but it also makes usability worse. I suggest adding a bit of yellow or bright orange to some areas that need to be noticed easily.

However I disagree on changing the name of KDE completely, since there will still be a lot of previous versions' code in KDE4, developers are the same as is community, goals etc. And which sounds better, "fourth major version of long developed K Desktop Environment" or "a new desktop environment, forked from KDE"?

The main problem is probably the colors.

If you have consistent ideas on new artwork, http://www.kde-artists.org/ might be the place to discuss them.

As for the application names: it seems application developers have moved away from simply prefixing the name with K but rather integrate it as part of the name, for example by using a word from a different language than English (e.g. Kalzium, Krita)

For already existing applications that are just ported to KDE4, staying with the already established name might often be the better choice, for example IMHO it would be a bad idea to rename KWord to something different.

Cheers,
_

Normally you would develop a 'new' logo by abstractiing the old, so there is some recognizable element but it is being modernized.

BTW I don't agree it has to be changed. Let's keep the eye on the ball.

Hmm... I kinda like the logo, although I liked the previous logo better (the one before this plain square logo). The gears don't look "geeky" to me. I have never thought of associating gears with geeks.

But what does the gear really mean?
I think that they should come up with a sort of "museum" or documents about the history of some stuff in KDE, like the name Konqueror (it's explained in their website), the mascot Konqui, the gear in the logo, etc.

No offense meant, but at least our logo is somehow related to the brand. I still can't seem to understand how a footprint relates to... Maybe I'm just too stupid to understand...

The main things I would like to see in terms of a new look which I haven't seen happening are:

Konqui being axed: The dragon guy- he's cheesy and tacky, Microsoft got rid of Clippy and MS-BOB, it's time to get rid of this useless guy- make him part of AMOR or something. It degrades the look of the environment in my opinion. I'm sure many people are attached to him buy screw mascots.

Smaller Taskbar: the default size of the taskbar is huge, ok I know some people like it that way but at present it takes up a lot of space vertically, I am not saying make it as small as possible- just shorter.
Not everybody is a geek like us and some people have small screens that just can't afford to have so much space taken up- maybe have it as an option when you first start up- why not have a config wizard when you start a new account asking for sizes etc- hopefully everybody wins then.

I totally agree that it will (is?) be good if applications get rid of the annoying "K" - no matter if it is just attached, misspelled, non-english or whatever. It's annoyng. The very KDE is totally OK. It refers to something.

The all-blue outlook (that is hard to entirely change even with themes, just to note) should have option. Warm, not bright collors are better IMO, as well as many others.

The dragon is lame. I doubt it will be "killed", but make out an alternative.

Happy to see you want Konqi goes out of here.

I won't say anything about the name "KDE", i find it pretty good.
Also i'm happy about your opinion on "Gears", i'm currently trying to find a
new logo for KDE, but gears are not so inspiring, especially with what KDE 4 want to symbolize but i won't avoid totallly it, cause sometimes, gear suits well about KDE's concept.

cheers

Seriously, the dragon and the gears really need to go. Its pretty sad, but honestly, these things are so much an annoyance to me that i've stuck with Gnome. Now, i think there are other issues - like that i'm more used to it, etc. But every time i've looked (i've done this many times) at switching to kde, i see the goofy dragon and the gears everywhere and i just cant go there.

i totaly agree with Northerngeek about the taskbar, andwith theintegration of SVG, there is no problem for redimesioning all the icons...

the taskbar, systray etc must have the possibility to have the dimesion we wants, not with minimum ou maxim...

i know, i will say something very bad but a good exemple of redifinition of taskbar, panel etc.. is the shelves of E17 (dimensioning, positioning etc...)

i have a monitor 17 inch, and for gimp or inkscape, i prefer use all the window, without taskbar, BUT i also want to always see the hour, and the systray (for amarok or kopete for exemple)

my 2 cents..

You could create an extra panel that only holds the systray in it.
make the panel very small with the option to grow to the neccesary size enabled.

Hide the mainpanel and leave the extra panel on the desktop.

Only backdraw is that maximum sized windows won't use the space of the extra panel, so you need to stretch them manually

it's what i'm using now, but i don't want to hide this panel, i want it always on top... to see my clock, or my new arriving mail for exemple...

i know it's just 24 pixel losts or o moving od mouse to see the panel... but these small things make the desktop more user friendly and productive for me

Actually i think KDE should forget about de CDE behavior it drags.

And please quit de dragon konqui whatever it's just horrible.