There was no article in December, and they have not explained the reasons. A few months ago they asked the community if they preferred monthly articles or only when there was something interesting to tell, and that is what they were able to do this time. Danielle Foré, solo leader of elementary OS after the departure of Cassidy James Blaede, posted today an entry on their blog in which they tell us about a few new features of OS 7 and a few of OS 8.
elementary OS 7 now includes the latest version of GNOME Web (Epiphany), with its new tab overview. Additionally, they've tweaked some icons for things like the animated downloads icon in the top bar and hardware access icons, and fixed an issue that could cause the favorites window to look too thin. At first, the browser started out as something simple with few functions, but the tabs and other innovations from the past such as support for extensions make it an alternative to take into account.
Other news from elementary OS 7 and OS 8
During the last 60 days a new version of the window manager from elementary, or rather from Pantheon which is its desktop, which corrects 10 of the reported problems, including several related to workspaces and the use of multiple monitors. New versions of the network settings and network indicator have also been released to restore support for Wireguard VPNs or Opportunistic wireless encryption.
All of these new features are now available, and can be added to existing installations by opening the updates application and installing all the packages waiting to become part of the operating system.
Looking to the future, there are several new features that will arrive with elementary OS 8. As already they advanced in November, they will do everything possible because gtk4 keeps most of the interface, and there are several sections that already use those libraries. For example, the authentication dialog and system settings. Of all the panels that were waiting, only one remains to be uploaded.
Dock improvements
El However, It is that part that many of us like and from where we launch our favorite applications. During November and December, work has been uploaded to greatly improve drag and drop so that it supports both reordering apps within the dock and dragging them from the applications menu. On the other hand, it now supports balloons and progress bars, quick actions in the context menu and it is possible to add and remove apps from the dock from the context menu of the application menu. These are new features that can already be expected in OS 7, but the new dock is improving in a way that works with Wayland and is built entirely with GTK4.
Among the rest of the news, Foré says:
“While we are undertaking major projects to adopt the latest technology, we are also not neglecting bug fixes and feature requests. Notifications now appear on the left for RTL languages, and sound change confirmations will no longer appear above the sound indicator if it is open. We've also added support for horizontal swipe gestures to switch between windows and an option to disable hotcorners in workspaces with full-screen apps. Some larger changes are still being drafted, including support for the screenshot portal and some design changes to the multitasking view that add more color. Additionally, blackout panel styles have received some attention and now have a soft shade.”
elementary OS 8 and all its new features are available in the project's previous access, which can be accessed for a fee of $10/month. The new version will arrive during this year, but they do not have a scheduled date.