KDE Plasma 6 – The next generation - TUXEDO Computers

For some time now, it has been reported in the press that Plasma 6 is expected to be released later this year or in spring of 2024. Since this directly affects you as a TUXEDO OS user, we will explain in this article which changes you will have to face and what you have to pay attention to.

The KDE Desktop Environment, nowadays distributed under the product name Plasma, has come a long way. On July 12, 1998, the final version 1.0 of the K Desktop Environment was released using the then still non-free Qt framework.

A quarter of a century later, we have reached the end of the fifth generation Plasma 5, which has now been available since 2014. It represents the second major desktop environment in Linux alongside GNOME. The Qt Company, which develops the Qt framework on which Plasma is based, released a new major version, Qt 6.0, in December 2020. Since then, developers at KDE have been working on integrating Qt 6 and implementing it in Plasma 6.

Why is there a new plasma generation?

Qt 6 brings new components and features that would be difficult to implement in Plasma 5 without completely tearing the system apart. Therefore, after ten years, it makes sense to throw off old ballast and implement new technologies cleanly. In addition, a jump to a new major version is a suitable point to implement new default settings.

What’s new in Plasma 6?

Over five days in May 2023, about a dozen KDE developers from around the world met at the TUXEDO offices in Augsburg for the Plasma Sprint 2023 to set a decisive course for the upcoming Plasma 6. Shortly after, the first new standards and features were announced.

While most of the changes for Plasma 6 do not face the user, but happen undetected in the background, there are some changes that become visible or tangible to you as a user.

Wayland instead of X11

An important change which, although revolutionary in the background, will at best not even be noticeable to you as a user is the switch from the display server X11 first released in 1987 to the modern display server protocol Wayland as standard. X11 will still be available, packages that are not yet adapted to Wayland will be executed via the intermediate layer Xwayland. But as I said, you don’t have to care about that because for you everything remains the same in the application. There is still some work to be done to qualify Wayland as standard for Plasma 6.

Double click as default

With Plasma 6, files and folders are opened with a double-click by default, not a single click. Although many of you use and prefer single-click opening, the developers are introducing double-click as default to make it easier for users switching from other platforms to get started. If you previously favoured single-click, you can set this behaviour again in the Systemsettings.

Floating control bar

A cosmetic change that was introduced as an option about a year ago and has since found many friends is the Floating Panel. As expected from KDE, this default setting can be changed by you.

Application Switcher

The Application Switcher, which can be activated with ALT+TAB, is also equipped with a new display mode. Instead of the previously used Breeze, which does not provide an ergonomic display of open applications on larger screens or multi-monitor setups, the Thumbnail Grid is used with Plasma 6. In the system settings under Window Management » Application Switchers you still have the choice among several other switches.

Other adjustments include Scrollbars, Virtual Desktops accessibility, and changes to the colour Header Bar Display of active windows.

The way to plasma 6

Currently, TUXEDO OS 2 offers the current version Plasma 5.27.6 LTS. Version 5.27 is the last release of the fifth generation and, being a version with long-term support, will be maintained and updated beyond the first release of Plasma 6. When Plasma 6 becomes available at the end of the year or early next year, we will test the new generation extensively for you. You don’t have to do anything further, you will be upgraded to Plasma 6 during one of the usual upgrades when we are satisfied with the stability.

If you want to follow the further development steps towards Plasma 6, the weekly entries in the blog of KDE developer Nate Graham are a good place to start.