KDE Plasma 5 is the fifth and current generation of the desktop environment created by KDE, primarily for use on Linux distributions.
It is done the new version of KDE Plasma 5.27 is available, which comes with a large number of key improvements, as well as new features and bug fixes in the different elements that make up this desktop environment.
Of the most notable that we can find in this new edition of Plasma 5.27, there is, for example, the introduction of Plasma Welcome, the restructuring of the configurator, redesign improvements in some elements and several quite interesting things.
KDE Plasma 5.27 Key New Features
In this new released version of KDE Plasma 5.27 in the KWin window manager, the possibilities of mosaic windows have been expanded. In addition to the previously available options to dock windows to the right or left, full control of the window tile is now available through the interface invoked by pressing Meta+T. When moving a window while holding down the Shift key, the window is now automatically positioned using the tiled layout.
Another change that stands out in the new version is the simplified system monitoring via widgets. The Bluetooth widget now shows the battery level of connected devices. Added NVIDIA GPU power consumption data to System Monitor.
Restructuring of the configurator was performed (System configuration), with the aim of reducing the pages with configurations and move small options to other sections. For example, the cursor animation setting at application launch has been moved to the Cursors page, the highlight button for modified settings has been moved to the hamburger menu, and all global volume settings have been moved to the Volume page. audio and are no longer provided separately.
In addition to this, we can also find that, a new module has been added to the configurator for configure the Flatpak package permissions. By default, Flatpak packages do not have access to the rest of the system, and through the proposed interface, you can selectively grant each package the necessary permissions, such as access to parts of the main FS, hardware devices, network connections, Audio. subsystem and printing.
Also we can find Plasma Welcome, which is an introductory application that introduces users to basic desktop functions and allows them to perform basic configuration of basic settings, such as linking to online services.
Discover has a new design for the front page, which features dynamically updated categories with popular apps, as well as a set of recommended programs. Search capabilities have been expanded, if there are no matches in the current category, a search in all categories is provided.
Of the other changes that stand out of the new version:
- For users of the Steam Deck game console, the ability to install system updates has been implemented.
- Provided support for defining global keyboard shortcuts for executing individual commands in the terminal.
- Added the ability to enable Do Not Disturb from the command line (kde-inhibit --notifications).
- Added support for moving or copying windows in rooms (Activities) by right-clicking on the title bar and selecting an action.
- In lock screen mode, pressing the Esc key now turns the screen off and puts it in power saving mode.
- A separate field has been added to the menu editor to define environment variables set when opening programs.
- Continuous improvement of the session based on the Wayland protocol.
- Added support for smooth scrolling with high-resolution wheel mouse.
- Drawing apps like Krita now have the ability to track pen tilt and rotation on tablets.
- Added support for setting global hotkeys.
- Provided automatic selection of zoom level for the screen.
Finally, if you are interested in knowing more about it about this new released version of KDE, you can check the details at the following link.
Try KDE Plasma 5.27
For those interested in this new version, you can test the new version via a live build from the openSUSE project and a build from the KDE Neon Testing edition project.
Similarly, you can find the corresponding packages within the repositories of your Linux distribution.