KDE will reflow the text in Konsole, its ARK will support ARJ files and prepares these other new features

I love it KDE. Since the fifth version, your desktop is fluid, stable, visually appealing, and packed with features. The applications they develop are also the best, with many functions that make them stand out from the rest. The difference is more noticeable when you use other desktops, like the Xfce (USB) that I end up using on my other laptop because, although Plasma can be installed, not everything works as well as if the KDE edition were the base.

Also, another thing I like about KDE is that they post more information about what they are working on. Nate Graham usually does it on Pointieststick, and this week has spoken to us of several new functions, among which it stands out that Konsole will reflow the text when we resize window. Below you have a list with the rest of the news that he has mentioned, one longer than in previous weeks since no one is thinking about Christmas anymore.

New features coming to the KDE desktop

• Gwenview now offers the option to use a solid black color when in full screen view, as seen in the header capture (Gwenview 21.04).
• Dolphin allows us to configure where the new open tabs go, at the end of the tab bar or in front of the current tab (Dolphin 21.04).
• ARK supports ARJ files (Ark 21.04).

Bug fixes and performance improvements

• Spectacle now allows changing the default screenshot file format when using a language other than English (Spectacle 20.12.2).
• Elisa no longer crashes when queuing a song accessed using the file system browser view (Elisa 20.12.2).
• Adding radio stations in Elisa now works again (Elisa 20.12.2).
• Elisa's "Show current track" button works again (Elisa 20.12.2).
• The "Apply" button in Elisa's configuration window is now activated and deactivated at the correct time (Elisa 21.04).
• When using a vertical panel, the date displayed under the clock no longer becomes huge (Plasma 5.21).
• Plasma no longer freezes when an application sends many notifications in rapid succession (Plasma 5.21).
• Fixed various issues with Breeze theme context menu borders being sometimes invisible or pure black (Plasma 5.21).
• The global menu applet now updates correctly when switching focus to or from a GTK application (Plasma 5.21).
• When opening the virtual keyboard on the login or lock screen, the password field now remains in focus, so the characters you enter no longer disappear into the void without manually refocusing it first (Plasma 5.21).
• After enabling any calendar plugin on the digital clock, the calendar panel now appears instantly, instead of requiring Plasma to restart first (Plasma 5.21).
• Discover's sidebar header no longer sometimes overlaps content after resizing the window (Plasma 5.21).
• Fixed a case where a newly created panel could be placed on the wrong screen in a multi-screen setup (Plasma 5.21).
• KRunner once again parses and interprets hex input correctly (Plasma 5.21).
• Country code labels on the System Preferences keyboard page are now readable when using a light color scheme with a dark Plasma theme (or the other way around) (Plasma 5.21).
• Aborting a change on the Users page of System Preferences by canceling the authentication dialog no longer causes the changes to take effect anyway (Plasma 5.21).
• KDE Connect no longer causes Plasma to crash on startup when spamming with notifications (Frameworks 5.79).
• Kirigami icons in applications now consume slightly less memory, which will significantly reduce memory usage for applications that have many icons (Frameworks 5.79).

Interface improvements

• Dolphin now allows unzipping multiple files at once through the context menu item (Ark 20.12.2).
• Ark's preview window now closes when you press the default "close window" shortcut (usually Ctrl + W) (Ark 21.04).
• Ctrl + click an item in the Places panel in Dolphin now opens it in a new tab (Dolphin 21.04).
• The System Configuration Login Screen (SDDM) page has been rewritten, which fixes a ton of bugs and makes it look more nice and consistent (Plasma 5.21).
• It is now possible to drag QML-based applications from empty areas of their headers and backgrounds, just like QWidgets-based applications (Frameworks 5.79 with Plasma 5.21).
• Plasma 'microphone in use' indicator now indicates which application is using the microphone in its tooltip (Plasma 5.21).
• The System Preferences Default Applications page now supports the "Highlight Default Settings" feature (Plasma 5.21).
• The global menu applet now respects Fitts' law by allowing you to slide the cursor from one menu to another in the row of pixels that touches the edge of the screen (Plasma 5.21).
• The System Preferences welcome screen page is now in the Appearance category (Plasma 5.21).
• The "Get New Plasma Widgets" dialog now uses a much nicer styled version (Plasma 5.21).
• KDE applications no longer display Docker volumes in their Places panels (Frameworks 5.79).

When will this all come to KDE?

Plasma 5.21 will arrive on February 9 and KDE Applications 21.04 will do so sometime in April. The 20.12.2 will be available from February 4. KDE Frameworks 5.79 will land on February 13.

To enjoy all this as soon as possible we have to add the KDE Backports repository or use an operating system with special repositories like Kde neon or any distribution whose development model is Rolling Release, although the latter usually take a little longer than the KDE system.

Yes, the above will not be met with 5.21, or not for Kubuntu until the release of Hirsute Hippo, as we already discussed in this article.