GNOME 42 already available in alpha version, with many of its new features related to GTK 4 and libadwaita

Path is made by walking, and without the first steps we do not move anywhere. GNOME 42 It has been in development for some time, so we cannot say that it is taking its first step, but there has been a somewhat more important movement: any interested user can now try it. Of course, if someone wants to do it officially in an operating system in its stable version, things have already changed.

As have launched today is GNOME 42 Alpha, that is, the first preview version that can already be tested. In theory, an "Alpha" version is one that can already be used by a select and small group chosen by developers, but that rule is something that is not usually followed in software. In these cases, that alpha version is like a beta version, but one that has been in development for less time, so we can take a look at it, but we will almost certainly experience more or less bugs.

GNOME 42 Alpha, news

• New text editor which would replace Gedit. Whether you still use Gedit or this newer one will depend on your distribution.
• Dark theme improvements.
• Improvements to the screenshot tool, which can now also record your desktop.
• New preferences dialog in GNOME Boxes.
• GNOME Software has received many improvements.
• New thermometer widget for weather app.
• Lots of improvements to Wayland and Mutter.
• Many improvements related to GTK4 and libadwaita.

The best way to test GNOME 42 is in a virtual machine. Rawhide Fedora, or the “operating system” GNOME-OS, which is not a complete operating system, but rather a set of software packages so you can see what Project GNOME is working on. The stable version of GNOME 42 will arrive in march, and is expected to be used in Ubuntu 22.04 and Fedora 36, ​​among other Linux distributions.