LXQt is a free and open source desktop environment for Linux, the result of the merger between the LXDE and Razor-qt projects.
The launch of the new version of the LXQt 1.4.0 desktop environment, a version in which various improvements have been implemented, as well as previous versions, it is based on Qt 5.15, which is the latest LTS version of Qt5.
LXQt is positioned as a lightweight, modular, fast and convenient continuation from the development of the Razor-qt and LXDE desktops, which has absorbed the best features of both.
For those who are unaware of LXQt, they should know that this eIt's a desktop environment result of the merger between the LXDE and Razor-qt projects and which is positioned as an excellent option for low-resource teams or those who prefer to save resourcess, as the biggest improvement to LXQt is it provides a lightweight desktop and much more control than LXDE.
Main new features of LXQt 1.4
In this new version that is presented of LXQt 1.4.0, It is highlighted that the PCManFM-Qt file manager provides the ability to define a command to call the terminal emulator. The two-pane mode state is taken into account when restoring a tab to the last window. The mount dialog now allows saving password and anonymity settings.
In addition to this, now the emulator endsl QTerminal has added the Falco color scheme, the ability to replace mouse buttons in Putty style and an option to make a sound when processing a special character with the code 0x07 ("\a").
Other changes that stand out in this new version are that a setting to plugin to execute arbitrary commands to display the output in image form, plus the image viewer has added initial support for color spaces.
Also, it is noted that the environment for activating DBus in the session manager was updated, which resolved problems with applications that configure the DBusActivatable configuration, for example, Telegram.
On the other hand, as mentioned at the beginning, LXQt 1.4 continues to be based on the Qt 5.15 branch, for which official updates are published only under a commercial license. The developers mention that the migration to Qt 6 is now nearing completion and unless any unexpected issues occur, the next version of LXQt will be based on Qt 6.
Of the other changes that stand out of the new version:
- Files needed to display menus are now distributed in their own lxqt-menu-data package, which replaces the previously used lxmenu-data package from the LXDE project.
- Removed ImageShack upload option (ImageShack now requires a paid subscription).
- Fixed old issues with checking/clearing urgency and window cycling with the mouse wheel in the LXQt Panel taskbar, and added an option to the custom command plugin to display the output as an image.
- Fixed urgent check/delete in taskbar.
Fixed window cycling with mouse wheel and focus steal prevention in taskbar.
An option is added to the custom command plugin to display the result as an image.
Fixed initial displayed volume with PulseAudio in the volume plugin. - The translations have received many updates.
And other changes that can be found in the LXQt components change logs.
To know more details about the release of this new version, you can check them In the following link.
If you are interested in downloading the source code and compiling yourself, you should know that it is hosted on GitHub and it comes under the GPL 2.0+ and LGPL 2.1+ licenses.
As for the compilations of this environment, these are already within most Linux distributions, for example for Ubuntu (LXQt is offered by default in Lubuntu), Arch Linux, Fedora, openSUSE, Mageia, Debian, FreeBSD, ROSA and ALT Linux.