On July 11, KDE Community He launched the third maintenance release of the KDE Applications 19.04 series. After four versions (if we count v19.04), that was the moment when they reached their end of life cycle (EOL), so the next thing to come will be a major update. It will be about KDE Applications 19.08, which will include some new functions that we can already test in different ways.
A few hours ago the KDE Applications 19.08 beta was released, although right now it uses the numbering 19.07.80. If we want to test them, we have many options, among which we have to download the source code, look for some of the Snaps that are available or even use docker, but I think there is an easier way to test them and that is to use a Live Session of KDE Neon Testing Edition, something we can do from GNOME Boxes with just a few clicks.
Try KDE Applications 19.08 with KDE Neon + GNOME Boxes
Explained fast and wrong, KDE Neon is a Kubuntu LTS with special repositories that allow you to use the latest versions of Plasma, Frameworks and Desktop, among others. In its download web page They offer the stable version, called User Edition, and a version that offers software before its release, called Testing Edition. If we want to test KDE Applications 19.08, what interests us is the second one.
Thus, to test the next version of the KDE Applications in the safest way, we can do it in two ways:
- Running a Bootable USB (we have several tutorials on Ubunlogas this).
- Creating a KDE Neon Testing Edition virtual machine with GNOME Boxes, Virtualbox or any operating system emulation software. I recommend GNOME Boxes because it works perfectly without having to install. We just have to:
- We downloaded the KDE Neon Testing Edition image from here.
- We right click on the image downloaded in the previous step.
- We select "Open with ..." and then "GNOME Boxes". The machine will be created and started automatically.
For the more impatient, it might be a good idea to test the next version of KDE applications in the safest way and I think the best way to do it is with the KDE Neon Testing Editon. The final version of KDE Applications 19.08 will be released at the end of August.