KDE Plasma 5.26.0 announced
With our news titled “Some features and innovations emerged before KDE Plasma 5.26
Beta came”, we announced that KDE Plasma 5.26 has now switched to "Day Color" mode.
Beta version 15 September 2022The final version of KDE Plasma 5.26.0 has been announced.
The new version, which is stated to allow a lot of customization of the desktop, even
with a simple installation, comes with a wide ecosystem of widgets.
Plasma Big Screen, KDE's interface, also introduces two new utilities for smart TVs.
While it is stated that it is now possible to resize the widgets in the panel, it is
stated that the dictionary widget now allows to select multiple dictionaries when searching
for the definition or translation of a word.
It is also possible to add user-created widgets such as the new (and very cool looking) “control
center” that gives the user a brief overview of various services in the system such as
volume, media playing, KDE Connect and more.
:: More ::
The KDE community has just published Plasma 5.26 as the newest update to this open-source
desktop environment and as the end of Plasma 5 feature development quickly approaches.
One of the most visible improvements with Plasma 5.26 is the introduction of a new big
screen UI.
The new Plasma Bigscreen interface is intended for TVs and other large format displays.
KDE Plasma 5.26's Wayland support is further refined as another notable change with this
version.
The Plasma Wayland session can now handle adjusting a graphics tablet's input area mapping,
better handling of compositor/app scaling on a per-app basis, disabling middle-click
paste under Wayland is now possible, and other fixes.
Plasma 5.26 also brings a number of Discover software center improvements can be found
with Plasma 5.26 for app content ratings, a "Share" button on app pages, and more.
There are also other Plasma 5.26 enhancements like easier previewing of desktop wallpapers
from within the KDE System Settings and a wide variety of other KDE System Settings
improvements.
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Resizable panel widgets, animated wallpapers, and some changes to System Settings are among
the significant improvements in KDE Plasma 5.26.
KDE and GNOME are the two leading desktop environments, so each new release is met with
great anticipation and excitement.
However, the newly released KDE Plasma 5.26 brings a few interesting functional improvements
but will probably not cause another “wow” effect among users.
And that is, of course, completely normal.
KDE, as we all know, is about unlimited options for customization.
So, let’s take a look at another dosage of those that Plasma 5.26 brings us and give
our honest thoughts on them below.
What’s New in KDE Plasma 5.26 KDE Plasma 5.26 Desktop Environment
Resizable Panel Widgets KDE Plasma widgets are small GUI apps that
act as building blocks, allowing you to build a desktop suited to your needs and requirements.
Until now, you could only resize widgets that “float” on your desktop.
Plasma 5.26 changes this by allowing you to resize those on your panel – for example,
the clock, calendar, volume control, etc.
A handy functionality in various cases, such as when the widget has too much information,
and you want to view it more eye-friendly way.
Animated Wallpapers Another feature that the KDE developers focus
on in this release is animated wallpapers.
But we have something to add here.
We’re sure many Linux users find moving things around on their desktops funny.
And they certainly are.
However, in our opinion, this is a needless feature that we would even describe as annoying.
And to the “Simply don’t use it” statement, we’d say, “We haven’t even considered
doing that.”
So, we don’t know how much effort the KDE developers spent building this “functionality,”
but we believe they could have put energy in more useful directions.
Adaptive wallpapers are yet another new feature introduced by KDE Plasma 5.26.
Previously, when switching from light to dark themes or vice versa, only the color of the
window decoration changed.
The wallpaper now adjusts its color spectrum to match the mode, similar to the functionality
introduced in GNOME 42.
We can only admire this feature, which provides a much more complete look and feel to the
entire desktop environment.
Furthermore, it is significantly easier on the eyes in purely practical terms.
Kickoff Menu KDE Plasma Kickoff Menu
The Kickoff menu has received a lot of attention in this release.
And, of course, it can be resizable like the other panel widgets too.
In addition, you also get the “Use compact list item style” option, which, as the name
implies, rearranges the items in a more compact form, allowing you to see more things at once.
Furthermore, users can use an alphabetical index to find the application they need quickly.
This is especially useful if you have many apps installed and need to scroll until you
find the one you’re looking for.
And, unlike the previous, the option in KDE Plasma 5.26 to add text in place of the Kickoff
widget icon or even remove it completely has no practical value and is purely for fun.
Discover Software Update Settings
The Discover app allows you to manage software from multiple sources.
But now, you may choose how frequently it reminds you of new updates.
The available options are “Daily,” “Weekly,” and “Monthly.”
Furthermore, it now displays app content ratings and allows you to change the name used when
submitting a review.
Finally, we can’t leave out that Discover now includes a “Share” button on each
app’s information page.
Other KDE Plasma 5.26 Improvements This release includes several improvements
to System Settings.
For example, it’s now easier to preview wallpapers: click on them, and the desktop
will change to show you what the wallpaper would look like.
In addition, when you type in the Overview effect, it now filters windows that match
the search text and perform a KRunner search if no open windows match the search phrase.
Wayland support has also been improved in Plasma 5.26 in certain ways.
For example, it is now possible to adjust how a graphics tablet’s input area maps
to your screen coordinates.
Moreover, it’s now possible to disable middle-click paste.
In conclusion, we will add that we have purposefully avoided focusing on Plasma Bigscreen, an open-source
user interface for TVs, because it is outside the scope of desktop functionality and thus
outside the scope of this review.
As always, you can refer to the official announcement for more information about all changes in
the new version.
How to Get KDE Plasma 5.26 The easiest way to test it is with KDE Neon.
It is a Linux distribution developed by KDE based on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.
Users of rolling-release Linux distributions, such as Arch Linux, openSUSE Tumbleweed, Void
Linux, etc., are expected to be among the first to receive the upgrade to
KDE Plasma 5.26 in their distro’s repositories.
:: More ::
The KDE team have done it again!
Giving us a fresh new Plasma desktop with plenty of upgrades and Plasma 5.26 is out
now.
KDE say it's "All About the Widgets" and they're not wrong.
When it comes to Widgets, they're referring to almost everything you see around the main
Plasma desktop from what you add directly to the desktop, to the various icons and features
on the bottom Plasma panel.
With this release, you can now even resize those from the Plasma panel too which is quite
a useful change.
Lots of Widgets saw upgrades too like the Dictionary allowing more than one dictionary
definition or translation, the Sticky notes, User switcher and Media Player were all given
new features too.
The 5.26 release also brings in officially the Plasma Big Screen mode, designed for use
as the name suggests, on a big screen like a TV giving you a much better interface to
use.
This also comes with it's own media player just for it called Plank Player.
It even supports navigation with a remote, perfect for use on the sofa.
Lots of focus on spit and polish with this release too.
Their support of Wayland continues to improve, wallpapers change between light and dark themes
to match, an option for changing the screen colouring for both night and day, a lot of
bugs are also being fixed up as part of their "15-minute bugs" project so expect a more
stable experience.
The list of improvements goes a very long way down and it seems the Discover software
store saw a rather large amount of fixes and improvements like multiple Flatpak updates,
and actually inhibiting suspend while doing updates so you're not left with a broken system
— quite an important one that.
There's even a share button to properly direct people to apps inside Discover, nice!
The numerous Flatpak upgrades will be very welcome for Steam Deck users, whenever Valve
decides to upgrade it in SteamOS.
Also, in case you missed it, KDE devs talk Steam Deck and their work for it at Akademy
2022.
:: More ::
The KDE Project announced the release of KDE Plasma 5.26 as the newest stable series of
the popular desktop environment.
The KDE Project launched KDE Plasma 5.26, which introduces Plasma Bigscreen, which runs
on top of Wayland.
The new smart TV interface, Plasma Bigscreen comes with Aura Browser as a new web browser,
Plank Player, a multimedia player, which can be controlled with smart TVs’ remote control.
In KDE Plasma 5.26, KickOff has a new Compact mode, which shows items at-a-glance in a list
view.
The KDE Project announced the general availability of KDE Plasma 5.26, coming with multiple new
features.
The most significant new feature is the new interface designed for smart TVs, named Plasma
Bigscreen.
It runs on postmarketOS or Manjaro Linux.
Plasma Bigscreen, which runs on top of Wayland, is coming with Aura Browser as a new web browser,
Plank Player, a multimedia player, which can be controlled with smart TVs’ remote control.
New features Besides Plasma Bigscreen, KDE Plasma 5.26
includes various new features and improvements.
It allows users to show the Maliit virtual keyboard while using it in Touch mode.
Users can also adjust the input area maps of a graphics tablet to screen coordinates
and disable the middle click paste.
In KDE Plasma 5.26, KickOff has a new Compact mode, which shows items at-a-glance in a list
view.
Users can also click a letter header in KickOff’s All Applications view, allowing users to click
on a letter to jump to apps.
Also, panel pop-ups are now resizable and resized widgets remember the size they were
stretched to.
There is also a new Timer widget that can be dropped on the desktop.
Although KDE Plasma 5.26 is now available, we should wait for a distro to release their
next version for the full experience.
To see the complete list of bug fixes, improvements, and enhancements, you can take a look at the
changelog for detailed information.
Thanks For Watching.