Developer(s)KDE
Initial release28 February 2024; 5 months ago (2024-02-28)[1]
Stable release
6.1.4[2] Edit this on Wikidata / 6 August 2024
Preview release
n/a
Written inC++, QML
Operating systemUnix-like
PlatformFreeBSD and Linux
PredecessorKDE Plasma 5
TypeDesktop environment
LicenseGPL 2.0 or later[3]
Websitekde.org/plasma-desktop

KDE Plasma 6 is the sixth generation of the KDE Plasma desktop environment. It is the successor of KDE Plasma 5 and was first released on 28 February 2024.[1]

Overview

[edit]

KDE Plasma 6 was designed to not be a very large departure from KDE Plasma 5, instead being a series of improvements.[4] KDE Plasma 6 is built using Qt 6, KDE Frameworks 6 and KDE Gear 24.02.[1][5] In addition, support for the Wayland protocol was mainstreamed as the default graphical session, with X11 support made secondary.[6] It introduces a new sound theme, Ocean, replacing Oxygen's sound theme as the default.[1][5][7] Plasma 6 on Wayland has partial support for High Dynamic Range (HDR) and color blindness correction filters.[1][5][8] The Discover app and settings were also improved and the 3D cube desktop effect was brought back.[9]

New features

[edit]

Compared to the latest Plasma 5 release, the sixth generation brings the following new features:

History

[edit]

The first Technology Preview of Plasma 6 was released on 28 February 2024.[1]

Releases

[edit]

Releases of new versions are planned every 4 months (3 times a year) initially. Though it may move to 2 releases a year in the future.[11]

Normal releases will stop receiving bugfixes as soon as the following release is available. The exception to this rule are LTS releases.

Plasma 6 releases[12]
Version Date Key features
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.0[1] 28 Feb 2024 First release of KDE MegaRelease 6
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.0.1[11] 5 Mar 2024 First bugfix release for KDE Plasma 6.0
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.0.2

[13]

12 Mar 2024 Second bugfix release for KDE Plasma 6.0
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.0.3

[14]

26 Mar 2024 Third bugfix release for KDE Plasma 6.0
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.0.4

[15]

16 Apr 2024 Fourth bugfix release for KDE Plasma 6.0
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.1

[16]

18 Jun 2024 First release of KDE Plasma 6.1
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.1.1

[17]

25 Jun 2024 First bugfix release for KDE Plasma 6.1
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.1.2

[18]

2 Jul 2024 Second bugfix release for KDE Plasma 6.1
Current stable version: 6.1.3 16 Jul 2024 Third bugfix release for KDE Plasma 6.1
Legend:
Old version
Older version, still maintained
Latest version
Latest preview version
Future release

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "KDE MegaRelease 6". KDE. 28 February 2024. Archived from the original on 28 February 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  2. ^ "KDE Plasma 6.1.4, Bugfix Release for August". 6 August 2024. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
  3. ^ "Copying of Plasma Workspace". KDE Invent. Archived from the original on 4 May 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  4. ^ a b Wallen, Jack (11 September 2023). "I tested KDE Plasma 6 and found it very familiar. Here's why that's a good thing". ZDNET. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Nestor, Marius (28 February 2024). "KDE Plasma 6 Desktop Environment Officially Released, This Is What's New". 9to5Linux. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
  6. ^ Wallen, Jack (14 February 2024). "The first Linux distribution to deliver a pure KDE Plasma 6 environment is here". ZDNET. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  7. ^ Sneddon, Joey (28 February 2024). "KDE Plasma 6.0 Has Arrived, This is What's New". OMG! Ubuntu. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  8. ^ Davenport, Corbin (28 February 2024). "KDE 6 Update Arrives With Big Plasma Desktop Updates for Linux". How-To Geek. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
  9. ^ a b Rudra, Sourav (28 February 2024). "KDE Plasma 6: The Big Release is Here!". It's FOSS News. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  10. ^ "Plasma/Plasma 6". KDE Community Wiki. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
  11. ^ a b "KDE Plasma 6.0.1, Bugfix Release for March". announcements.kde.org. 5 March 2024. Archived from the original on 6 March 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  12. ^ "Schedules/Plasma 6 - KDE Community Wiki". community.kde.org. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  13. ^ "KDE Plasma 6.0.2, Bugfix Release for March". 12 March 2024. Archived from the original on 27 March 2024.
  14. ^ "KDE Plasma 6.0.3, Bugfix Release for March". 26 March 2024. Archived from the original on 27 March 2024.
  15. ^ "KDE Plasma 6.0.4, Bugfix Release for April". 16 April 2024. Archived from the original on 15 May 2024.
  16. ^ "Plasma 6.1". KDE Community. 18 June 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  17. ^ "KDE Plasma 6.1.1, Bugfix Release for June". KDE Community. 25 June 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  18. ^ "KDE Plasma 6.1.2, Bugfix Release for July". KDE Community. 2 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
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