In today's open source roundup: Ubuntu versus Windows 10. Plus: Dell updates Developer Edition Linux laptops, and KDE Plasma 5.2 released and reviewed Windows 10 versus Ubuntu In yesterday’s roundup I included two stories about Windows 10 and the fate of the Linux desktop. Today there’s a story at Datamation that compares Windows 10 with Ubuntu to see which one might be a better fit for readers. Matt Hartley at Datamation reports: I’ll be honest. From a visual point of view, I’m not a fan of the new Windows layout. While it’s far better than previous releases, it’s still not for me. Unfortunately, though, my opinion alone isn’t going to sway anyone from avoiding this release. The first issue is that it’s going to be a free upgrade for a lot of Windows users. This means the barrier to entry and upgrade is largely removed. Second, it seems this time Microsoft has really buckled down on listening to what their users want. Many of the new features have allegedly been due to Windows feedback. But the fact is, when you bother to include older peripherals and hardware, Linux still outshines Windows all day long in terms of hardware support. Try running anything from the XP era on your Windows 10 desktop, let me know how good the driver support is. Under Ubuntu, it just works. Window’s only advantage is having an edge with smoother graphics drivers. More at Datamation Dell updates Developer Edition laptops powered by Linux Dell has updated its Linux-powered Developer Edition laptops, and they will also include Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. Lee Hutchinson reports for Ars Technica: In addition to an upgraded XPS-13 Developer Edition based on Dell’s 2015 XPS-13 refresh, the line is adding a piece of workstation-class hardware: the Dell Precision M3800 mobile workstation, Developer Edition. The branding is a bit of a mouthful, but the hardware to back it up is substantial. Built around Dell’s M3800 workstation-class laptop, the Developer Edition ships with what Dell Web Vertical Director Barton George calls “the vanilla image of the most recent LTS release (14.04).” The workstation’s default configuration includes a 15.6″ 1920×1080 display, 8GB of RAM, and a 500GB 7200 RPM hard drive, but it can be customized with up to 16GB of 1600MHz DDR3 RAM, a 1TB mSATA SSD, and a 15.6 UltraSharp IGZO UHD Touch display with 3840×2160 pixels. The base configuration lists at $1533.50, while the price with upgrades comes up in the configuration tool as $2,765.50 (though about $1,000 of that is the 1TB SSD—going with a 256GB 2.5″ SSD instead of the mSATA 1TB option drops the price by $735 to $2,030.50). More at Ars Technica KDE Plasma 5.2 released The KDE site has announced the release of Plasma 5.2. Today KDE releases Plasma 5.2. This release adds a number of new components, many new features and many more bugfixes. This release of Plasma comes with some new components to make your desktop even more complete: BlueDevil: a range of desktop components to manage Bluetooth devices. It’ll set up your mouse, keyboard, send and receive files and you can browse for devices. KSSHAskPass: if you access computers with ssh keys but those keys have passwords this module will give you a graphical UI to enter those passwords. Muon: install and manage software and other addons for your computer. Login theme configuration (SDDM): SDDM is now the login manager of choice for Plasma and this new System Settings module allows you to configure the theme. KScreen: getting its first release for Plasma 5 is the System Settings module to set up multiple monitor support. GTK Application Style: this new module lets you configure themeing of applications from Gnome. KDecoration: this new library makes it easier and more reliable to make themes for KWin, Plasma’s window manager. It has impressive memory, performance and stability improvements. If you are missing a feature don’t worry it’ll be back in Plasma 5.3. More at KDE The Plasma 5.2 release announcement got redditors talking: PandaHammer: “…how close are we to stability though? I want to replace my Plasma 4 desktop but seeing as the packages replace each other I’m looking for a daily driver.” D_ed: “Speaking as a main Plasma dev; it depends a bit on on what you use. It won’t crash often (providing you have latest Qt5.4); but a few obscure features you’re used to might be “missing” or not as well tested. Maybe try a live CD and see for yourself.” PandaHammer: “Cool thanks. Any experiences with Plasma5 and Steam games? Can we still disable effects for fullscreen windows etc?” Hyperz: “Been playing War Thunder, Prison Architect and Robocraft on my Plasma 5.2 beta install without any problems or performance issues. And yes you can still disable effects for fullscreen applications.” Fliphopanonymous: “I regularly run DoTA 2 on two different computers with Plasma 5 with very few issues. On my ultrabook it seems like disabling compositing for full screen windows doesn’t save between sessions so I’m not sure if it works for the integrated Intel graphics, but I haven’t noticed a loss in performance (granted I’m usually just spectating and not actually playing). On my desktop it does work – R9 290x with catalyst. Both computers are running up to date Arch, laptop is single screen 1920×1080, desktop is triple screen 1x2560x1600 and 2x1080x1920. Both have vsync and compositing defaulted except for full screen windows. “ Akkaone: “For me kwin started to use a lot of less memory after the update to 5.2. Also for me I had a couple rendering bugs with the kwin effects on my installation, they all diapered after the update. My impression is 5.2 is ready for most user now…” Bananaoomarang: “Looks like a really solid release (upgrading on Arch now). Been using Plasma5 as my daily driver for a while now, and apart from the occasional crash and some font rendering issues in notifications it works great! Congrats :)” More at Reddit Ken Vermette has a very detailed review of Plasma 5.2: Plasma 5.2 feels functional enough for day-to-day use, and unless you plan to really push the desktop into experimental realms such as high-DPI or extreme customization – you’ll find it’s a pleasant and usable experience. I personally was testing with an early beta version which felt fairly stable, and bugs are being hunted down before the full release. A major theme running though Plasma and Frameworks is to ‘do things right’; no short-cuts or brushing things under the carpet, and it shows. Is Plasma 5.2 perfect? No! But it’s doing a very good job. Plasma 4 created the vision but always felt as if successive releases were attempts to fix and patch it’s original problems – almost becoming stagnant in the process. Plasma 5 feels as if its dropped that weight and is ready to begin another push to innovate. Using Frameworks 5 and Plasma 5 it’s obvious the goals KDE made in 2008 with Plasma 4 will be realised on this next-generation computing environment. More at Ken Vermette Did you miss a roundup? Check the Eye On Open home page to get caught up with the latest news about open source and Linux. Software DevelopmentOpen SourceSmall and Medium Business