Throughout this week, KDE has released the second beta of Plasma 6.4. The next version of the "Kool" desktop will introduce many major new features, and they're currently focusing on shaping it. At the same time, they're working on the new features that will arrive much later, along with Plasma 6.5.
What follows is the list with news that have taken place in the KDE world over the past week. Many of these are bug fixes. If you'd like a broader view and to see all these bugs addressed, the best thing to do is visit the link provided at the end of this article.
KDE User Interface Improvements
plasma 6.4.0
- Support for more device types in the Bluetooth widget to more accurately identify the device type.
- The Bluetooth pairing wizard now displays devices with real names at the top for easier searching.
- Improved keyboard navigation through search results columns in the Kicker app menu.
- The Dictionary and Web Browser widgets now use symbolic icons in the panel, to match other current widgets.
- Numerous functional and visual improvements to the Fifteen Puzzle widget.
plasma 6.5.0
- You can now advance to the next wallpaper in a presentation using a keyboard shortcut, if you assign one to the new global action created for this purpose.
- KWin's magnifying glass and zoom effects now share their initial zoom level and zoom factor.
- The Digital Clock widget's calendar add-ons page has received a visual makeover and now looks much better.
- Plasma now warns that keeping the “Increase Maximum Volume” option enabled for extended periods will damage the device’s speakers, and warns that it is intended only for temporary use to increase the volume of quiet media.
- The Legacy X11 Application Support page in System Preferences is now clearer about its usefulness and the security implications of using its settings.
- The menu that appears when you click the small application icon in a window’s title bar is now consistently called the “Window Menu” everywhere.
Performance and technical in KDE
plasma 6.5.0
- Reduced memory usage in Plasma by keeping fewer unnecessary copies of each screen's wallpaper in memory.
- Changing the icon theme no longer causes an unnecessary update of the application metadata cache.
Qt 6.10.0
- Implemented the ability for companion elements in QtQuick-based UIs to label each other, so that screen readers can say more coherent things when they have focus.
Coming soon to your KDE distribution
In terms of bug numbers, the three high-priority bugs that were there last week remain, and two have been reduced from 27 to 25 on the 15-minute bug list.
KDE Plasma 6.3.6 is expected to arrive on July 8, Plasma 6.4 on June 17, and Frameworks 6.15 on July 13.
Images and content: KDE blog.