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The KDE Project released today the first beta version of the upcoming KDE Plasma 6 desktop environment for public testing three weeks after the alpha development milestone.
Accompanied by the beta versions of KDE Frameworks 6 and KDE Gear 24.02 software suites, all built against the Qt 6 application framework, the first KDE Plasma 6 beta release is here with another layer of bug fixes and improvements that make the upcoming desktop environment more stable and reliable for everyday use.
KDE Plasma 6 is scheduled for release on February 28th, 2024, and promises numerous new features and enhancements, including full Wayland support, HDR and color management support, a brand-new icon theme for a fresh new look, and even the return of the highly requested Desktop Cube effect, which you can see in the featured image above.
Those of you who want to give KDE Plasma 6, KDE Frameworks 6, and KDE Gear 24.02 beta a try can download the Unstable edition of the KDE neon distribution or the Plasma 6 edition of the KaOS Linux distribution. The KDE Project warns us that these are pre-release software and are not recommended for use in production environments.
However, the KDE Project encourages the Linux and Open Source community to test drive these beta versions as best as they can and report bugs so that they can deliver rock-solid stable releases.
A second beta version of KDE Plasma 6, KDE Frameworks 6, and KDE Gear 24.02 will be available for public testing later this year on December 20th. In early 2024, two Release Candidate (RC) versions will be ready for public testing on January 10th and January 31st respectively.
KDE Plasma 6 will be the default desktop environment of the upcoming Fedora Linux 40 distribution for its KDE Plasma spin, but openSUSE Tumbleweed and Arch Linux users will most probably be the first to enjoy it next year.
Image credits: KDE Project
Last updated 5 months ago
