Automatix, a tool for Ubuntu that allowed easy access to many popular non-free applications and commonly-used audio and video codecs, was discontinued in March when its developers moved on to other projects. Now Ultamatix hopes to continue where Automatix left off.

This tutorial will show you how to install KDE 4.1 on your existing Ubuntu 8.04 or 8.04.1 LTS desktop. To eliminate the “terminal madness” for Linux beginners, we’ve used apt-url links in this tutorial. So, just click the links in the guide in order to install the packages!

The truth is that a Linux install goes pretty smoothly on modern systems, especially desktop PCs. However, if things go wrong, and they can go wrong, then even with the backing of tech support, a Linux newbie is going to see a side of Linux that they’ll probably not forget.

The end-result for Dell customers is that they can watch DVDs and Windows Media Video, and play MP3s and Windows Media Audio, with no fuss or muss. However, many of these improvements rely on proprietary software.