Just one month after launch of its beta, yesterday, September 16, it was launched GNOME 3.38. It is a new major update and, as such, it comes with new functions, several of them introduced in the application launcher, such as that the frequent tab has disappeared and that now everything can be ordered or edited more easily. In addition, they have also polished the desktop, which will result in improved performance that adds to the improvement from v3.36.
Among the novelties, a new app stands out that will guide us through the GNOME desktop, but this application may not appear in all distributions. And we must not forget that GNOME is only a desktop, which includes a graphical environment, applications and libraries, but it is the distributions that choose what to add and what not. Below you have the list of most outstanding novelties that have arrived with GNOME 3.38.
Highlights of GNOME 3.38
- New application to teach us how everything works.
- Improved the application launcher.
- Improved support for fingerprint readers.
- Now we can restart the computer from a new option added in the system tray.
- Possibility of showing the battery percentage without installing anything extra.
- New parental controls that will allow us, for example, to restrict web browsers, some applications or prevent apps from being installed.
- Support to share WiFi with QR codes.
- Improvements in apps, such as Maps, Photos, Clock, Epiphany or the screenshot app that now comes with a renewed interface.
- GNOME's built-in screen recorder now uses Pipewire.
- The sound recorder has been redesigned.
- Changes in the microphone icon to know if it is active or muted.
- Some icons have been redesigned.
- Monitor refresh management in Wayland has been improved.
The release of GNOME 3.38, whose codename is Orbis, it's official, but at the moment it is only available as code and part of it on Flathub. From now on it is the distributions who have to add it to their operating systems, something that Ubuntu 20.10 will do on October 22 (it is already available in the Nightly version). The full list of changes is available at this link.