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After nearly six months since the last Manjaro Linux ISO release, Manjaro 21.3 is out as another update to the Arch Linux-based distribution that tries to focus on user-friendliness and accessibility, while making installing Arch Linux a breeze.
Released in December 2021, Manjaro 21.2 “Qonos” brought the latest LTS (Long-Term Support) kernel series, namely Linux 5.15, as well as the latest (at the time of the release) KDE Plasma 5.23 and GNOME 41.2 desktop environments.
Codenamed “Ruah”, Manjaro 21.3 ships with the same Linux 5.15 LTS kernel series, alongside the older Linux 5.10 and 5.4 LTS kernels for older hardware, as it looks like the Manjaro Linux devs decided to stick to LTS kernels for new releases and not adopt the latest and greatest kernel branch, Linux 5.18, which is already the default kernel upstream in Arch Linux’s repositories.
GNOME users would be happy to learn that Manjaro 21.3 “Ruah” ships with the latest and greatest GNOME 42.2 desktop environment, which they can try out as a live edition on their personal computers. The other editions ship with the KDE Plasma 5.24.5 LTS (despite the fact that KDE Plasma 5.25 is present in Arch Linux’s repositories) and Xfce 4.16 desktop environments.
Other than that, Manjaro 21.3 includes the Calamares 3.2.59 graphical installer, which brings support for LUKS encrypted partitions to the Partition module and a list of forbidden logins and hostnames to the Users module. It also includes the latest Mesa 22.1 graphics stack series, which should make gamers happy.
Without further ado, if you want to take Manjaro Linux for a test drive on your personal computer, you can download the latest 21.3 release as Xfce, GNOME, or KDE Plasma editions right now from the official website.
On the other hand, existing Manjaro Linux users need only to keep their installations up-to-date at all times since the distribution follows a rolling-release model where you install once and receive updates forever. To update your Manjaro Linux installation, run the sudo pacman -Syu command in the Terminal app or use the graphical package manager.
Last updated 2 years ago
