One of the most popular desktop environments for Linux, KDE Plasma, has received a new long-term support release. KDE Plasma 5.24 LTS brings some new features that might very likely improve the user experience while using the desktop environment. The desktop environment comes with a new wallpaper which is crafted on a live stream. If you are interested in seeing the process, you can check it here.
Managing windows with Overview
One of the most important features that KDE Plasma 5.24 LTS brings is the new Overview effect. The new effect enables users to easily manage their virtual desktops as well as the windows. It comes disabled as default; users should activate it from System Settings > Workspace Behavior > Desktop Effects > Overview before using it. After the activation, you can easily manage your windows by pressing Meta (Windows) + W shortcut. The Cover Flip and Flip Switch effects for task switching are back, once more. You can find them under System Settings > Windows MAnagement > Task Switcher menu.
KDE Plasma’s default theme Breeze has got some tweaks and new features as well. Users can now pick any accent color for Breeze as they want. A new color picker window shows up and users can easily select their favorite color via RGB codes or color palette. Changing the color accent will also automatically change the FreeDesktop light/dark color scheme.
Up to 10 fingerprints
Fingerprint sensor support for authentication is now available with KDE Plasma 5.24 LTS. Users can set up to 10 different fingerprints to make it easy to log in. It also supports authentication for sudo command.
There are several enhancements added to the System Tray and Widgets area with the KDE Plasma 5.24 LTS version. Users can now set “Date always below time” for the digital clock. The weather widget reminds you to configure, and it can automatically search for it through all weather sources. Battery & Brightness had received visual improvements.
Task Manager items have got some improvements too. Hovering a Task Manager items will pop up the little window that includes a volume bar for that task. This means it is now very easy to set volume levels of the task independently. The context menus under the Task Manager items have also got some improvements aiming at simplification and clarification as well.
Other improvements
Important notifications in the Notifications area will now appear with an orange strip to draw more attention than the less urgent ones. Notifications will be able to display thumbnail images for video files now. KRunner app will show the integrated plugins to make it easier to keep up with the new additions, by simply pressing the question mark icon on the toolbar.
KDE Plasma 5.24 LTS will be supported for 1.5 years since it is a long-term support version. It will receive small updates for fixing the bugs during this period. Linux distributions using 5.24 LTS should be around in a few days. In the same time scope, repositories are expected to be updated with the latest KDE Plasma version.
If you want to try it just now, you can simply install KDE neon and update it, just like we did. You can also try other rolling-release Linux distributions such as openSUSE and Arch Linux.
Click here to see the full release notes of KDE Plasma 5.24 LTS