Recently, I stumbled upon a "People Behind KDE" interview from September of last year with Derek Kite. The interviewer asked, "What is KDE's killer app? And Why?" Kite's answer completely threw me. His answer was, "Konqueror. Because Linux users are first class citizens for this browser."
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He explained, "Applications have a life cycle starting with the initial idea and implementation, then a long and seemingly tedious maturation process where progress is slow, and at one point improvements are dramatic and noticeable. Konqueror has hit the point where the final few annoyances are being stomped out. Try out the latest version. It will be better than the last (barring any regressions). The strengths of the initial vision are becoming obvious."
The initial vision of Konqueror was officially announced to the world on June 14, 2000. Konqueror was to be "the next-generation web browser, file manager and document viewer for KDE 2.0." the press release stated. Yes, it's been a long time coming, but if you are using KDE 3.3 or later, you will experience what Mr. Kite is talking about. The KDE vision of Konqueror has been fulfilled.
While I liked Konqueror as a file manager I had actually never given Konqueror's web browsing capabilities much thought. I had recently begun using Opera 9.0. I felt at long last that I had found the browser I had been looking for to run on my Debian Sarge install.
But there it was, already on my system. With Mr. Kite having piqued my curiosity, I thought, "What the hell. Why not." And I started using it.
The first thing I noticed is that Konqueror is really fast as a web browser. No, I mean REALLY fast. It's faster than Opera, which is noted for its speed.
Let me elaborate. First, it loads faster, as it's part of the KDE GUI that's already loaded and running. It does a better job of loading recently visited web pages from its cache than Opera. It also renders web pages more correctly than Opera, though Opera is very good. Opera would force me to hit the minus key to downsize web pages too often, to make them fit the screen. A niggling point, I admit.
One of Konqueror's curious and powerful traits is that it is at once both a file manager and a web browser. You could think of it as a computer navigation device. It will quickly take you to any folder and file on your hard drive, or to anywhere on the Internet. It does either one, or both of those, so seamlessly that I marvel at how the KDE people did it.
Like all the newer browsers out now, Konqueror uses tabs. And yes, it blocks pop-ups. One reason why I had switched to Opera is because of its ability to selectively allow Java and Java scripts to run on only the websites that you choose. Konqueror does that, too.
Split screen browsing
One of the unique features of Konqueror that really is amazing is its ability to do split screen browsing. Right click on the status bar on the bottom of the screen and you get a menu allowing you to split the screen either horizontally or vertically.
This isn't just a "gee whiz" feature. It's actually very useful. Take shopping on line, for instance. My wife is very jealous of this feature. :-)
Take a look at the following screen shot, which shows me looking at two different tents and comparing their specs side by side.
Konqueror's split screen browsing in action
(Click to enlarge)
Note the scroll bars for each window. You can navigate to any websites completely independently from either screen.
And get this: you can even use one side of the screen to navigate your hard drive and continue web browsing in the other screen, if your wish!! So, Konqueror can manage files and browse the web simultaneously. Who knew?
Konqueror's side bar
With Vista soon to arrive, one of its new features is a sidebar that lets you run small applications. Perhaps Microsoft borrowed this feature from Konqueror.
The side bar seen in the screen shot above is quite versatile. Each icon represents some function that the user defines. Konqueror literally extends your desktop with the side bar customizable icons.
Let's start with the basics. Notice I have two camera icons. The upper one, with the cable, take me directly to the card reader in order to move photos off of the camera "drive." The second camera icon just navigates to my photos drive. The pen icon takes me directly to my written documents folder. Those are very traditional uses.
Not so traditional is the ability to have Konqueror go to any file in a folder, -- including executables. This means you can easily access any application installed in your system by creating an icon for it: email, photo editors, whatever you want.
For example, I've tried creating a entry that lets me open a calculator for example. Do you have a document that you are forever working on? Your master's thesis, a spreadsheet, a novel? Whatever it is, you can create an icon and a link to it that, when clicked, will open the application that is associated with it.
You can, of course, use the sidebar to create entries to go to any website -- though, I think you would need to use those only very sparingly, since the little black footprints icon on the main menu bar opens a list of your top 10 most-visited websites. This is much like media players that keep track of your most played songs. (See top menu bar.) So, I only have two unique web-related entries on the side bar. But they are interesting.
One website link I created goes to Yahoo weather. It opens a side panel, through which I can quickly check the day's weather and then close that panel without leaving the web page I'm on. Even slicker, is the one with the little musical note. I like to listen to the Internet bluegrass station www.BluegrassCountry.org. When I click on the button I created, it connects to their audio stream without me having to actually open their web page first. I just click on the icon, and a media player opens and starts playing the station's music.
As you can see, the sidebar feature of Konqueror allows you to put a lot of extra desktop functionality at your fingertips.
Try it, you'll like it
So, have I convinced you to at least try Konqueror, now? It's fast, full featured and secure. If you are using KDE, it's already installed, ready, and waiting for you to explore the features I've covered -- and many more that I haven't.
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