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GNOME 42 Beta has been released with more GTK4 and libadwaita.
The freezing has also begun
Little more than a month after giving us the Alpha , the project behind the most used desktop
in Linux launched GNOME 42 Beta . In addition to the fact that the software is already more
polished than it was four weeks ago, this beta marks the beginning of the freezing of
the interface, functions and APIs, that is, tweaks can still be introduced, but they will
focus more on correcting bugs than on changes important and visible.
What the release note doesn't mention is that the new screenshot tool . Some GNOME users
know that in addition to taking "snapshots," GNOME has a native feature for recording the
desktop, but using it is anything but easy.
They have long since accepted its integration into the next version of GNOME, so it stands
to reason that it will be testable in GNOME 42 beta already.
After GNOME 42 Beta they will release the Release Candidate, and then the stable version
Among the new features that arrive with GNOME 42 Beta, which are also expected in the stable
version, we have that the calls application can manage tel:// URIs and can add contacts
from the call history, Epiphany has updated its PDF code .js and readability.js, GJS now
uses SpiderMonkey 91, which makes it compatible with new JavaScript features, added new wallpapers
for light and dark themes, and a transition to switch between them, Bluetooth now shows
battery info on supported devices, Files (Nautilus) now supports dark mode, like GNOME Software,
a lot of software has switched to using GTK4 and libadwaita, and my favorite feature, the
screenshot app that now lets you record your desktop.
As Project GNOME explains, the best and safest way to test GNOME 42 Beta is by using your
OS image, available at this link . Although they call it GNOME OS, it is not a complete
operating system, but rather an image to test all the new features ahead of time.
In a few weeks they will release the Release Candidate, and GNOME 42 will arrive as a stable
version March 23 .
:: More ::
GNOME 42 beta released more apps ported to GTK4
And the GNOME Project has announced the availability of the GNOME 42 beta.
Check out what's new in this snapshot and see how to try it out.
Abderrahim Kitouni from the GNOME release team announced the availability for public
testing of the upcoming GNOME 42 series of desktop environments for public testing.
Namely, GNOME 42 beta is now ready for public testing to give the Linux and Open Source
community a taste of what they can expect from the next major release of one of the
most popular desktop environments for Linux-based operating systems, used on desktop.
and mobile devices.
What's New in GNOME 42 Beta
es, the GNOME 42 beta is now ready for early adoption and tech enthusiasts who want to
be the first to experience the new features and enhancements implemented in the upcoming
desktop environment, of course, with a delay of ten days from the release date.
initially planned release.
Continuing the GNOME 42 development cycle, this beta release is here with more apps ported
to the GTK4 toolkit and libadwaita, the highly anticipated built-in screenshot and screencast
feature that replaces the GNOME Screenshot utility (which is not available in this version),
as well as the new Appearance panel with support for Light and Dark styles.
According to Abderrahim Kitouni:
“This release adds libadwaita, which contains building blocks for modern GNOME applications.
It also adds gtksourceview version 5 and libsoup version 3.
The Clutter libraries, which were deprecated in GNOME 41, have been removed.”
Among other noteworthy changes, GNOME 42 beta comes with improved Bluetooth support with
support for exporting battery information to Bluetooth devices and the ability to check
if any input devices are connected to display a confirmation dialog when disabling Bluetooth.
, asynchronous methods for creating thumbnails, as well as better thumbnail support for Flatpak
apps.
GNOME 42 beta also features a reworked OSD (On-Screen Display) for the volume and brightness
OSDs, updated color icons of Adwaita devices and folders, new default and companion wallpapers
in light and dark variants, redesigned Extensions app, support for a privacy screen, support
for changing monitor configuration policy, improved support for laptops and keyboard
LEDs, as well as the ability to advertise DMA-BUF support via PipeWire.
GNOME Shell received many new features, including Swiss-French and Swiss-German layouts for
the on-screen keyboard, support for login-screen authentication lists, revamped shell stylesheet,
improved keyboard navigation of windows and apps in Overview activities, new contrast',
improved out-of-sync location indicator, new fade screen when switching between dark and
light modes, and removal of rounded corners from the top bar.
The GNOME Calls application received support for adding contacts from call history, support
for tel URIs in SIP providers, and the ability to set preferred audio codecs through gsetting.
The GNOME Calendar app received better time zone handling, improved presentation of multi-day
events, and a revamped year view to be a month browser.
Additionally, the GNOME Maps application now supports an alternate format of OpenStreetMap
location URLs in the search bar.
The GNOME Music app now features dark mode toggle.
GNOME Software received an updated user interface for app ratings and reviews, as well as an
improved appearance of the Category page loading screen.
The final release of GNOME 42 is scheduled for March 23, 2022.
How to install try this GNOME snapshot
To test the GNOME 42 beta, you can use the installer image , the 42beta branch of the
Flatpak runtimes from the Flathub beta, or the official snapshot of the BuildStream project.
Source packages are available here for Linux OS maintainers who want to integrate the upcoming
desktop environment into their GNU/Linux distributions.
However, keep in mind that this is a pre-release version, intended primarily for testing purposes.
Being a beta version, you should expect a lot of bugs and missing features.
GNOME 42 Beta Released - Begins The UI / Feature / API Freeze, More Apps Ported To GTK4
Ahead of next month's GNOME 42.0 desktop debut, today marks the GNOME 42 Beta (or "42.beta"
as they prefer) and this also initiates the start of the user-interface, API, and feature
freeze for this six month update.
With GNOME 42 Beta the changes include:
- GNOME Calls now allows for SIP providers to handle "tel" URIs.
There is also support in Calls for adding contacts from the call history.
- GNOME's Epiphany web browser has updated its bundled PDF.js and readability.js code.
- GJS has been updated against SpiderMonkey 91 and as a result many new JavaScript features
now supported.
- Glib has added an async file move API.
- New default and supplemental wallpapers for light and dark variants have been included.
- GNOME Bluetooth now exports battery information for supported Bluetooth devices.
- GNOME Calendar has been ported to GTK4.
- GNOME Desktop adds async methods for thumbnail creation.
- GNOME Software has improvements to its dark theming and various UI updates.
- The Nautilus file manager now supports the dark mode setting.
- Other GNOME programs ported to the GTK4 toolkit in this beta include the GNOME Font
Viewer, GNOME Music, GNOME Tour, and GNOME Weather.
- The many GNOME Shell and Mutter changes including the new screenshot/screencasting
UI, support for dark wallpapers, improved XWayland auto-termination handling, DRM privacy
screen support, and much more.
The GNOME 42 release candidate is up in mid-March followed by GNOME 42.0 officially debuting
on 23 March.
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