Wayland and New App Menu Coming to KDE
The 2021 roadmap for the KDE desktop environment includes some exciting features and improvements.
If you’re a fan of KDE, 2021 is going to be an exciting year for you. If you’re not a fan of KDE, this year might change that.
The most important of those roadmap plans is Wayland support. In fact, according to KDE developer Nate Graham, “I expect the trend of serious, concentrated Wayland work to continue in 2021, and finally make Plasma Wayland session usable for an increasing number of people’s production workflows.”
Look for Wayland to be production ready sometime this year.
Other KDE features coming up in 2021 include a new App Menu. This will hit Plasma 5.21 and, as Graham said, will be “super modern and awesome.” For a sneak peek at what the Kickoff replacement might look like, check out the Kickoff redesign page. Another exciting development will be full stack support for fingerprint authentication. This will include the lockscreen KAuth, Polkit, and more. The Breeze theme will also be undergoing an evolution. This change will not be fundamental, but more a modernization of the look.
Other, smaller, changes coming to KDE this year might include power/session actions in the lock screen and reflowing text in the Konsole terminal app.
Beyond software, KDE also hopes to find more hardware partnerships, closer coordination with various Linux distributions, and more effort put forth on the Neon distribution.
Read the full KDE roadmap here.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Container-Based Fedora Hummingbird Designed for Agent-First Builders
Fedora Hummingbird brings the same approach to the host OS as it does to containers to level up security.
-
Linux kernel Developers Considering a Kill Switch
With the rise of Linux vulnerabilities, the kernel developers are now considering adding a component that could help temporarily mitigate against them… in the form of a kill switch.
-
Fedora 44 Now Gaming Ready
The latest version of Fedora has been released with gaming support.
-
Manjaro 26.1 Preview Unveils New Features
The latest Manjaro 26.1 preview has been released with new desktop versions, a new kernel, and more.
-
Microsoft Issues Warning About Linux Vulnerability
The company behind Windows has released information about a flaw that affects millions of Linux systems.
-
Is AI Coming to Your Ubuntu Desktop?
According to the VP of Engineering at Canonical, AI could soon be added to the Ubuntu desktop distribution.
-
Framework Laptop 13 Pro Competes with the Best
Framework has released what might be considered the MacBook of Linux devices.
-
The Latest CachyOS Features Supercharged Kernel
The latest release of CachyOS brings with it an enhanced version of the latest Linux kernel.
-
Kernel 7.0 Is a Bit More Rusty
Linux kernel 7.0 has been released for general availability, with Rust finally getting its due.
-
France Says "Au Revoir" to Microsoft
In a move that should surprise no one, France announced plans to reduce its reliance on US technology, and Microsoft Windows is the first to get the boot.