If you're anxious about giving GNOME 45 a go, the first beta of Fedora 39 has been released and includes the upcoming upgrade of the open source desktop. Do note that GNOME 45 is also still in beta, so you'll be using a beta desktop on a beta OS release. There will be problems.

Even so, GNOME 45 includes a number of interesting changes, such as plenty of UI-focused changes, feature improvements, and updates to the core GNOME apps.

The key changes are a new privacy hub and "About" panel in System Settings, a new icon for the Calendar app, UI tweaks to the Nautilus file manager, and the Loupe Image Viewer replacing Eye of GNOME.

As well, Fedora 39 beta includes an update to the GNU Toolchain, including gcc 13.2, binutils 2.40, glibc 2.38, and gdb 13.2.

Again, this is a minor upgrade to the distribution. In that vein, there are planned features that are simply not ready for the beta, such as the new speedier DNF package manager and the refresh to Anaconda.

To this, Matthew Miller, Project Leader, says, "To keep up with Fedora’s commitment to innovation, we also need to take risks. If everything went according to plan, that would mean we’re not trying hard enough. At the same time, our process now allows us to take these risks while still making sure the Fedora Linux OS we ship for general use is of A+ quality."

You can download the beta of Fedora 39 Workstation and read the official release announcement from the Fedora team.