Ubuntu: Up and Running

Kubuntu

This distribution is officially supported by Canonical, which means that it is thoroughly tested and support is available throughout the life of a release. Some other distributions are officially recognized but are not tested or supported by Canonical, and there are still other derivatives that are neither recognized nor supported.

The main thing about Kubuntu is that it uses KDE, the K Desktop Environment, instead of the GNOME environment of Ubuntu. But there’s more to it than just that, because it also comes with a whole host of other programs, and some of the default applications are different from those in GNOME. With its Kickoff Application Launcher at the bottom left of the desktop, it’s also reminiscent of the Windows Start menu (see Figure 15-4).

To access most things using KDE, click the K menu at the bottom left of the desktop (see Figure 15-5), from which you can select your favorites (files you have accessed a lot recently), the various available applications, the filesystem, and recently used files.

Figure 15-4. A typical Kubuntu desktop

Figure 15-5. The Kickoff application launcher

You can also call up the Quit menu for logging out, suspending the computer, and so on. If you can’t find the program you need, you can always enter its name into the search field at the ...