If you install Ubuntu 9.10 the default desktop manager is Gnome. KDE is another desktop manager that you can use on your Ubuntu distro, and we’ll take a look at it here. I’m pretty happy to use Gnome. However, I thought it would be a good idea to try out KDE 4.4 RC 2 which is the latest beta version of the much awaited KDE 4.4. The following is a step by step guide to install KDE 4.4 RC 2 on Ubuntu 9.10. Installation First step in the process is to enable the Kubuntu repositories. In order to do so, bring up a terminal window by hitting ALT+F2 and typing gnome-terminal. At the terminal, type the following command to add the Kubuntu PPA

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kubuntu-ppa/beta

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Enter your password and you should see something like the one below. This suggests that we have added Kubuntu PPA repositories to the software sources.

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Now in order to install KDE 4.4 RC on your machine which already has previous versions of KDE, type the following  command at the terminal:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

However, if you don't have previous versions of  KDE installed, type the following commands at the terminal.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop

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This should install KDE 4.4 RC on your Ubuntu machine. All that is left is to log out and login again by choosing KDE under the session option at the login screen.

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The following are a couple screenshots of KDE desktop environment.

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KDE has a lot of eye candy, great themes, and wallpaper support. If you are an early adopter and itching to try out the new KDE 4.4 on your Ubuntu machine, this should get you started.