If you’re as excited about KDE 5 as I am, then you’ll probably be delighted to hear that a new release of one of its main components is due to arrive very shortly.
Yes, I’m talking about the “Plasma” part of the new KDE release model, and in case you’re still confused about the way things works now over at KDE’s camp, here’s a brief explantion that will put things together for you.
So, how shortly you ask? Well, according to KDE’s official schedule, the planned release date is supposed to be due at 2015-01-27, that’s of course given that everything will go as it should.
In the meantime, while we await for the stable version to come out, KDE folks have announced the release of Plasma 5.2 “Beta” and are calling for user feedback from those who have decided to test it out.
According to the announcement, these are the notable new / updated features introduced with this Beta:
Plasma 5.2 “Beta” Feature Highlights
- New components:
- BlueDevil
- KSSHAskPass
- Muon
- SDDM
- KScreen
- GTK Application Style
- KDecoration
- Undo changes to Plasma desktop layout
- Smarter sorting of results in KRunner
- New mouse cursor themes for Breeze (as already published here on iWillFolo, New Breeze Cursor Icons are Available for Installation Prior to Upcoming Plasma Release, works with both KDE 4 and 5)
- New plasma widgets:
- 15 puzzle
- Web browser
- Show desktop
- Audio Player controls in KRunner
- Kicker alternative application menu can install applications from the menu
- Many bug fixes
So, as you can see there’s much to expect from upcoming Plasma version, though Qt 5 based applications are probably still going to be missed by majority of users.
Don’t worry KDE devs, we know you’re just trying to prevent another version upgrade mess, as the one happened with the move from KDE version 3 to 4.
Download, Install & More Info
As mentioned throughout the post, this is only the Beta version of Plasma 5.2, thus it’s not recommended for installation except for the purposes of testing or just having fun ;) (Note: please don’t install it on a production-critical machine).
In case you do like to help test Plasma 5.2 before it’s officially out, the below link will take you to page of the release announcement where you’ll be able to find out more information about the Beta, and also find links to instructions pages and download pages.
