The update to Plasma 6.1 is waiting for you - TUXEDO Computers

Long before most Linux users will be able to enjoy Plasma 6.1, we are making this first update for the new generation Plasma 6 in TUXEDO OS available to our customers and users. You can now obtain the update as ISO Image or as WebFAI.  Existing users simply start the update via the corresponding notification from Discover. Or, if desired, with the command:

sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade

Plasma 6.1

Around four months after the release of Plasma 6 at the end of February, Plasma 6.1 has been launched to not only eliminate bugs, but also to introduce new functions and give the main version the necessary polish that usually comes with a first minor update.

Wayland on the right track

Wayland has made particular progress. The integration of Explicit Sync in the window manager KWin, in the graphics library Mesa, the compatibility layer XWayland and other components in conjunction with the proprietary NVIDIA driver v555, which is currently available as a beta version, ensures that artefacts and screen tearing are also a thing of the past under Wayland. The foundations have been laid in Plasma 6.1 and as soon as the nvidia 560 driver is released in a stable version and tested by us, you too will be able to enjoy the new technology. As a subscriber to our fortnightly newsletter, you are guaranteed not to miss this date. But the Wayland improvements don’t stop there. The new Triple Buffering ensures smoother animations and speeds up the screen display thanks to the additional third buffer.

Discover Software Management

Discover has implemented many functions for handling flatpaks in recent months. With Plasma 6.1, a time-saving improvement was added. Discover now supports the necessary replacement of Flatpak applications that have reached the end of support with their updated successors, eliminating the need for manual intervention on your part.

Session recovery

As you may have noticed, session recovery, i.e. the re-opening and correct placement of all open applications after a restart, does not yet work under Plasma 6 and Wayland. With this update, the developers have taken at least half a step towards their goal. With Fake Session Restore, at least all windows from the previous session are now reopened, although not necessarily in their previous position. Plasma 6.2, which is expected in October, will hopefully also get the placement right.

Edit Mode

Edit Mode stands for the configuration of the desktop and includes the background image, the control bar, the display configuration, the global theme and the plasma widgets. You can access the function called Edit Mode by right-clicking on the empty desktop and selecting Start Edit Mode. The configuration was already much simpler and clearer with Plasma 6.0. Plasma 6.1 has now gone one better. For the sake of a better overview, when the mode is activated, the desktop is animated in the background and the settings layers appear next to it instead of on the desktop background as before.

Accessibility improved

Two accessibility improvements have also found their way into the new edition of the Plasma desktop. The new Shake Cursor function helps to find the cursor on large displays by “shaking” the mouse and by that enlarging the cursor. The new Edge Barrier provides support when working with multiple monitors by creating a “sticky” cursor area at the edges of the screens that can be defined in terms of size, thus facilitating interaction at the transition between the monitors.

A feast for the eyes

It wouldn’t be a new Plasma version without at least one new aesthetic customisation feature, and in collaboration with TUXEDO, the synchronisation of LED colours on supported keyboards with your chosen accent colour has been implemented for a personalised desktop aesthetic. There will be a separate news item on how to implement this in the next few days.

Integrated colour profiles

Owners of Wide Gamut Displays can look forward to support for the colour profiles of their display. This long-awaited addition ensures that the colours of your screen are displayed correctly in the entire plasma desktop environment and in all applications. The colour profile is read from the display’s EDID (Extended Display Identification Data) and displayed in KDE/Plasma applications.

The new background image called Reef did not make it into the release of Plasma 6.1 for technical reasons. However, you can download it from the KDE server. You can read about other improvements in Plasma 6.1 in the announcement or in more detail in the changelog.