Konqueror

Konqueror is a file manager, web browser and file viewer, which was developed as part of the K Desktop Environment (KDE) by volunteers and runs on most Unix-like operating systems. Like the rest of the "kdebase" package, Konqueror is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL).

The name Konqueror is a play on the names of other browsers: first comes the Navigator, the Explorer, and then the Konqueror. It also follows the KDE convention of naming programs with a starting letter K.

User interface

Konqueror's user interface is somewhat reminiscent of Microsoft's Internet Explorer (in turn designed after Netscape Navigator and NCSA Mosaic), though it is more customizable. It works extensively with "panels", which can be rearranged or added. For example, one could have a bookmarks panel on the left side of the browser window, and by clicking a bookmark, the respective Web page would be viewed in the larger panel to the right. Alternatively, one could display a hierarchical list of folders in one panel and the content of the selected folder in another. The panels are quite flexible and can even include a console window. Panel configurations can be saved, and there are some default configurations. (For example, "Midnight Commander" displays a screen split into two panels, where each one contains a folder, Web site, or file view.)

Navigation functions (back, forward, history, etc.) are available during all operations. Most keyboard shortcuts can be remapped using a graphical configuration. The address bar has extensive autocompletion support for local directories, past URLs, and past search terms.

The application uses a single document interface; multiple window mode is not supported (although it's possible to open a new separate window, similar to Navigator). Version 3.1 and subsequent versions of Konqueror support multiple tabs in a window.

Web browser

Konqueror has been developed as an autonomous web browser project. It normally uses KHTML as its layout engine, which is compliant with HTML, supports JavaScript, Java applets, Cascading Style Sheets, SSL, and other relevant open standards.

Because of Konqueror's modular nature, Gecko from Mozilla can be used instead of Konqueror's KHTML renderer. This ability is called kmozilla and can be found in the kdebindings package.

Konqueror integrates several customizable search services which can be accessed by entering the service's abbreviation code (for example, gg: for Google) followed by the search term(s). One can add their own search service; for instance, to retrieve Wikipedia articles, one adds a Web shortcut called wp: with the URL http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=\{@}&go=Go.

Konqueror's rendering speed is on par with that of competing browsers, but sites with malformed HTML are sometimes less leniently rendered than by other browsers. Problems can also result from the use of plugins on a Web site which cannot be run under the operating system on which Konqueror is run; the use of QuickTime movies, or Shockwave animations can result in such problems. However, SWF (Flash), PDF, Java applets, and other plugins are supported if the respective software is installed.

File browser

Konqueror also allows browsing the local directory hierarchy—either by entering locations in the address bar, or by selecting items in the file browser window. It allows browsing in different views, which differ in their usage of icons and layout. Files can also be executed, viewed, copied, moved, and deleted.

File viewer

Using the KParts object model, Konqueror executes components that are capable of viewing (and sometimes editing) specific filetypes and embeds their client area directly into the Konqueror panel in which the respective files have been opened. This makes it possible to, for example, view a KOffice document directly from within Konqueror. Any application that implements the KParts model correctly can be embedded in this fashion.

KIO

In addition to browsing files and web sites, Konqueror utilizes KIO plugins to extend its capabilities well beyond those of other browsers and file managers. It uses components of KIO, the Konqueror I/O plugin system, to access different protocols such as HTTP and FTP (support for these is built-in).

Similarly, Konqueror can use KIO plugins (called IOslaves) to access ZIP files and other archives, smb (Windows) shares, to process ed2k links (edonkey/emule), or even to browse audio CDs, ("audiocd:/") and rip them via drag-and-drop. The FISH ("fish://user@host") IOslave allows Konqueror to manage files on remote secure shell servers, and the "man:" and "info:" IOslaves are handy for fetching nicely formatted documentation. For a complete list, open the KDE Info Center and click the Protocols icon. (If the Info Center is not available in your version of KDE, open the KDE Control Panel and look in the Information, Protocols section instead.)

Platforms

Although Konqueror is primarily developed for Linux, it is available for some other platforms such as BSD, Solaris and recently, Microsoft Windows, while still very limited, full Windows support is planned for Konqueror 4.0, which will be a part of KDE 4.0.

External links

Konqueror homepage

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