Default apps
Do they dilute the mix with non-KDE apps?
The KDE project has a wide collection of applications, so much so that the project hived off the official apps into a separate KDE product called KDE Applications just before the release of KDE 4. Besides the usual productivity apps such as text editors and image viewers, it also has alternatives for web browsers and office suites. In their bid to get you to sample the best of KDE, some distributions only include KDE apps while others mix in the more popular mainstream apps instead of their KDE alternatives.
Chakra expressly bills itself as a KDE-centric distribution, which is why it sticks to KDE apps by default. Some of the more interesting apps that it bundles include, among others, Krita, Ka rb on, K get, K den live, digiKam,K mail, Callig ra O ff icesuite,Qupz ill a web browser and the Spectacle screenshot utility. Other Qt-based apps include the Bomi media player and Tomahawk music player. There’s also a storage service manager to fetch files from Dropbox, YouSendIt, Box, Google Drive and any WebDAV location. KaOS also sticks to KDE apps by default. Besides the usual ones there’s QuasselIRC, Cantata client for MPD, Komoso webcam, mpv media player, SimpleScreenRecorder, SMPlayer, SMTube, and Qupzilla. Also unlike Chakra, KaOS includes the FatRat download manager, a Seafile client, and the proprietary Skype client.
Unlike Chakra and KaOS, Manjaro offers an official KDE release though its flagship offering is the Xfce release. This is why Manjaro is more forgiving towards non-KDE apps than the previous two. That said, there’s still a healthy collection of KDE apps but most of the productivity apps are the mainstream ones instead of their KDE alternatives. You’ll find LibreOffice, VLC, Firefox, Thunderbird, and the Steam client in Manjaro. Similarly, both Maui and Netrunner combine KDE apps with popular open source apps such as LibreOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, GIMP, and VLC. They are also the only distributions to include Ndiswrapper for installing Windows wireless drivers. Besides the usual KDE apps, they have quite a few proprietary apps as well including the Steam client, VirtualBox, and Skype.
While the usability of the KDE bouquet of apps might take a certain amount of getting used to, since the primary objective of this Roundup is to pick the distribution that puts on the best KDE show, we will award a higher weighting to the projects that stick to KDE apps exclusively rather than substituting them with popular and familiar alternatives.