What is "integration?"

[XubuRoxMySox]

I've never tried KDE before, except briefly when I experimented with Slax. What I saw of it was very cool, but I have a question about applications and "integration:"

What exactly does integration mean when it comes to applications? For example, I've read:

"You should use Konqueror instead of Firefox (or K-Mail instead of Thunderbird, K-Office instead of OpenOffice, etc) in KDE because it has better integration. ???

The others all run fine in KDE - but does "better integration" mean the K-apps run faster or better than their "non-K" counterparts?

Oh, and when I install KDE (3, not 4 - too many horror stories), can I import my e-mail settings, address book, and favorites from Firefox and Thunderbird?

Thanks,
Robin

[benerivo]

In this case, integration means the functions of the applications and the desktop are linked and shared. There's not that much to it other than for example, when an email address in Konqueror is clicked, it might open KMail, or when you open a pdf link, it will automatically use the kpdf plugin to view it in the browser. Basically, think of applications sharing data such as star ratings, or working seamlessly with each other. KDE (or QT) apps will run faster in the their native environment, as some of the necessary libraries will have already been loaded. I'm not sure about the import/export from Thunderbird and Firefox. I know you can export bookmarks from Firefox and import them in to other browsers easily.

[aged hippy]

As benerivo said, it is about embedding and linking the applications to share information between themselves, and so on. :)

"Oh, and when I install KDE (3, not 4 - too many horror stories), can I import my e-mail settings, address book, and favorites from Firefox and Thunderbird?" .... a wise choice, in my opinion, although KDE 4 is improving in leaps and bounds.

If you're going to install Kde via Synaptic or sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop all your existing preferences, favourites, and bookmarks, etc., will be retained and accessible.
KDE will be installed alongside Ubuntu, with the choice at log-in to boot into either.

One very handy Firefox add-on i've found to be is XMarks, it will back-up your bookmarks (and passwords - if required) onto their server.