KDE Plasma Netbook Shell Prototype

Plasma for KDE is one key technologies or pillars of KDE 4. Plasma provides the desktop user interface that includes the application launcher, the desktop and the desktop panel (a.k.a. task bar). Moreover Plasma is a framework for creating integrated interfaces for mobile devices, media centers and desktop computers.

During Akademy 2009, which took place as part of the recent Gran Canaria Desktop Summit in Las Palmas, Plasma and KWin developers worked on a deeper integration with the KWin window manager and the Web, as well as a special user interface for netbooks.

The video shows a plugin that integrates data from Wikipedia into the netbook's UI. This early prototype of the KDE Plasma Netbook project whets the appetite for the first alpha release of the Plasma Netbook shell, which is planned for Q3 2009. For more in-depth information read Vibrant Community Propels KDE Forward at Akademy 2009.

Via Linux Magazine

Update 22/07/2009

Technical papers from Akademy 2009 are now available for download as PDF files. See Artur Duque de Souza's paper Plasma and Netbooks: A proposal for improving Desktop interfaces on netbooks for in-depth coverage.

Via Linux Developer Network