Few days ago KDE Plasma 5.22 beta released y among the key improvements what can we find This is an adaptive adjustment mode for the transparency of the panel and widgets located on the panel, which automatically turns off the transparency if there is at least one window expanded to the entire visible area. In the panel options, you can disable this behavior and enable permanent transparency or opacity.
In addition, we may also find that the work for that support for Wayland it has improved enormously. Using Wayland, the ability to work with rooms (activity) and support to search by menu items in the applet is provided with the implementation of the global menu and the work of vertical and horizontal window maximization has been adjusted as well as implemented the possibility of using the "Windows present" effect.
The window manager KWin uses the Wayland protocol to optimize performance by direct scanning full screen windows on non-NVIDIA GPUs, plus it also added support for Wayland's FreeSync technology, which allows the graphics card to change the monitor's refresh rate to ensure smooth, tear-free gameplay. Added support for hot pluggable GPUs and the ability to customize overscan settings.
We can also find the new Kickoff menu eliminates annoying delays before changing categories and also solves a problem with the random change of categories when moving the cursor.
When starting the configurator, now a new quick settings page is displayed by default, where the most popular parameters are collected in one place, as well as a link to change the desktop wallpaper is placed. Added a parameter to control the update installation mode activity in offline mode, bypassing the default settings offered in distributions.
On the system to display notifications for downloaded files or moved, app screen is provided, which will open when the "open" link is clicked. File download notifications now inform the user when the download process is blocked and the need to initiate actions to start or continue the download.
In the program search interface (KRunner), multi-line search results display is implemented, which, for example, makes it more convenient to display definitions. Added filtering of duplicates found by different drivers (for example, searching for "firefox" no longer offers equivalent options to start the Firefox application and run the firefox command from the command line).
Of the other changes that stand out:
- In the task manager, the default behavior of the window highlight mode has been changed, which is now activated only when the mouse cursor is over the window thumbnail.
- Proper functioning of global hotkeys has been ensured, affecting not only Latin characters on keyboards.
- Automatic activation of Do Not Disturb mode is provided to block the display of notifications during screen sharing or screencast recording.
- The sticky notes widget offers the ability to change the size of the text.
- Improved support for handicap aids and keyboard navigation.
- Work has been done to unify the interface of the systray applets.
- Changed the layout of the Clock applet pop-up dialog and added the ability to configure the display of the date on one line with the time.
- The volume control applet provides the ability to select a profile for audio devices.
- Added Meta + V keyboard shortcut to show clipboard data placement history.
Download and test Plasma 5.22
For those who are interested in being able to test the new version, they will be able to do so through the live compilation of the openSUSE project and the project compilation of the KDE Neon Testing edition.
Also, on this page you can find packages for various distributions.