There are 91 days left until the "mega launch." In reality, counting from today, November 30, there are 90 left, but the news was published a little less than 24 hours ago: Plasma 6 beta It is now available. Until now it could be tested using unstable repositories in alpha version, but KDE yesterday launched the first test for the general public of what they called the mega launch. The name doesn't lie, since Plasma 6, Frameworks 6 and the first set of applications compatible with all of the above will arrive at the same time.
I think it is not necessary to explain in detail that Plasma 6 beta is... a beta. Yes, we can briefly explain what a beta is: if we base it on theory, the first versions do not receive any label, and are those handled by the software developer; The first thing that is shared is the alpha, and a small group of people have access to it; then comes the beta, which is for more people to test it, to the point that it is usually available to anyone interested; and after this the stable would arrive. In short, beta is something with a certain maturity that anyone can try, but it is not yet ready for teams that are considered production.
Plasma 6 beta and Frameworks 6 beta in KDE neon
When a release like this occurs, the developers make the code available to anyone who wants to try it. The best way to test something like this is on a distribution that already uses it, and the best candidate for this task is KDE neon in your Unstable ISO. More specifically, after updating, because the latest ISO at the time of publishing this article is from the 26th and I was not yet using Plasma 6 beta. Advice if you use a virtual machine: use pkcon update from the terminal; Discover breaks my system.
Among its new features, there are many that we will cover in more detail in three months, but as soon as we start the operating system we will see one of them: bottom panel is now floating by default, something I had been critical of some time ago. For starters, when it first appeared in Plasma 5.25 it took up more space than it should, and when they fixed this the panel floated, yes, but Kickoff didn't. These problems are now solved.
wayland by default
We also discovered that it enters wayland by default, or we discover it when we see a fault or enter the Information Center. The resolution change does not end successfully if we use it in GNOME Boxes in Live mode, but it can be changed with the same combination if we log out and change to X11. This is not something that needs to be this way and should also improve for virtual machines in the next three months. In the same Information Center we can see versions with different numbering of Plasma and Frameworks, which indicates that they are preliminary versions. After updating the neon that we are using for the test, it goes up to Plasma 5.90.0 and Frameworks 5.246.0. Qt is already in 6.6.
To see something similar with the applications you have to open one of KDE Gear (the ones from the project), go to "Help" and then to "About...". The numbering is 24.01.80, which is the KDE Gear 24.02 beta. They should arrive in December, but they have taken extra time to prepare things. Regarding numbering for future versions, yo I'm not sure if they will go back to .04, .08 and .12 or if they are also preparing for two releases a year like with the future of Plasma.
other developments
The full list of changes is available at this note from KDE on Plasma 5.90.0. It is too extensive and unclear to be able to know the news well. Yes, we can advance things like:
- The Cube view for moving between desks is back.
- By default, the view of desktops and activities have been merged, so with a keyboard shortcut or 4 fingers up on the touch panel we will see something like what GNOME offers.
- The floating panel is intelligent, or it can be if we configure it that way. When a window is placed on top of it, it stops floating. And now it is also possible for it to be seen when there is no superimposed window even if we have it to self-hide. That is, it will only be hidden when there is something on top of it with this new option.
- An accessibility improvement will be introduced for color blind people.
- The battery widget is divided into two and will become “Brightness and color” and “Power and battery”. There will be no more items in the system tray, as the colored one will live next to the “Night Color” one.
Plasma 6.0 will arrive along with Frameworks 6 and the February apps on the 28th. When it will reach the different distributions will depend on your philosophy, but it could take weeks or even months, since it is a huge leap.