The KDE community has unveiled a new version of the Plasma 6 desktop environment along with the Gear 24.02 application package. The developers told us what visual and functional innovations await Linux users after the update.
Almost all innovations are associated with the transition to the latest version of the Qt library set and the Wayland graphics platform. The shell now partially supports HDR mode, color blindness correction filters and more modern peripheral equipment.
In addition, security and performance improvements are claimed. For example, the built-in search for recently opened documents became 200% faster, for applications – by 60%, and the processor load was reduced by almost a third. The Breeze theme has also changed and become more modern: it has lost some of the frames and looks cleaner.
Among the main functional changes, the developers highlight the following:
- Simplified settings in Dolphin File Manager
- KHangMan game ported to the Kirigami framework
- Kasts podcast player now works faster
- Gradients removed from Kalzium periodic table
- You can now record part of your screen in Spectacle
- KWordQuiz cards now have audio controls
- KMail email client is better at blocking ads
- KClock now mutes sounds when alarm goes off
- In the Tokodon Mastodon client you can change the focus on images
- The PlasmaTube YouTube client now has a picture-in-picture mode
- Matrix client NeoChat received a page with the latest alerts
- Kate editor now uses RapidJSON and searches text faster
- KOrganizer allows you to send encrypted invitations by mail
- Terminal emulators Konsole and Yakuake now consume 50% less memory when rendering
The Kdenlive video editor received the most changes. Now you can change the audio track and video sequence of a video on the editing table, use multiple subtitle files for one audio track (for several languages), and the clip monitor has a list of recently opened files.
One of the main changes to the interface was the return of the “cube” with animation of switching between desktops. The Overview view has been combined with the desktop view into one new visual effect. In addition, the default taskbar is now a floating one. It also has a new hiding mode – when it comes into contact with windows. The set of standard wallpapers has also been updated.
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Finally, it became possible to customize the sound design by analogy with themes for the interface, the System Settings application got rid of unnecessary nesting of pages, and default program settings are now available for file categories, and not for individual formats.
You can find out more about all the changes in Plasma 6 on the official KDE website .