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The upcoming Fedora Linux 34 release will bring some awesome new features and better hardware support to allow you to run the GNU’Linux operating system on newer and even more machines.
We already know that Fedora Linux 34 is one of the most anticipated distribution releases of 2021, and that’s mostly because it will ship with a vanilla, almost untouched GNOME 40 desktop experience on top of some of the newest GNU/Linux technologies, such as Linux kernel 5.11.
So, if you’re a fan of the GNOME desktop environment and you want to try the exciting new design changes in GNOME 40, you should look out for the final release of Fedora Linux 34 Workstation next month.
But, under the hood, where the magic happens, Fedora Linux 34 will include some exciting new changes. One of these is the enablement of support for haptic touchpads, such as those used on Apple MacBooks, but also on other laptops that will be released throughout 2021.
Christian Schaller, senior manager for desktop at Red Hat, shares today on his blog details about this important change in Fedora Linux 34, which gives us access to the “newest and best in input,” but he makes no guarantees since laptops with haptic touchpads aren’t so popular right now.
“We have been putting in the effort to ensure that we can support this new type of device as they come out,” said Schaller. “So if you see laptops you want with haptic touchpads then Fedora Workstation should be ready for it.”
Talking about “newest and best in input,” I can confirm that Fedora Linux 34 with Linux kernel 5.11 fully supports the touchpad on the Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 laptop. The laptop I have is model 15ARH05, which is also seen in the popular Lenovo Legion 5 laptops.
Some of you who own these Lenovo gaming laptops know that the touchpad wasn’t working in Fedora Linux 33, which shipped with Linux kernel 5.8, but it was enabled after upgrading to Linux kernel 5.10 LTS. However, enabled didn’t mean the touchpad was working perfectly, so the good news I want to share with you today is that it will work perfectly in Fedora Linux 34.
In addition to the enhanced hardware support, Fedora Linux 34 will also improve support for Flatpak app by enabling incremental updates for smaller and faster updates and give you access to even more Flatpak apps from the Flathub portal by allow you to enable it in Fedora via third-party repositories during the initial setup.
Last but not least, Fedora Workstation 34 aims to enable the low-latency PipeWire multimedia engine for audio to replace PulseAudio and JACK for better Bluetooth audio support and support for more pro-audio apps, and also provide the usual layer of Wayland improvements you can read about in Christian Schaller’s blog post.
Last updated 3 years ago
