A few other new features have been added in this release

Feb 25, 2013 13:17 GMT  ·  By

GNOME Shell, a user interface that provides functions for the GNOME 3 desktop environment, has just received a new update and it's now at version 3.8 Beta 1.

GNOME Shell 3.8 Beta 1 has been released in the branch that will eventually become GNOME Shell 3.8 and it does pack quite a lot of new features.

The GNOME development is running smoothly and more features are added with each new version. This latest iteration of GNOME Shell holds some interesting additions, including the ability to paste with the middle-click action of the mouse.

Highlights of GNOME Shell 3.8 Beta 1:

• Let GNOME Shell work on EGL and GLES2; • Middle-click paste has been implemented; • The top bar transition between session modes has been fixed; • The message tray is now triggered with downward pressure; • Don't ask for a password on shutdown; • A context menu to the message tray has been added; • Proper ellipsis are now used instead of three dots; • The screen shield animation has been tweaked and improved; • The OSK is now hidden when showing the message tray; • Support for sound in notifications has been added; • The application popup menus are now placed above chrome; • The overview elements while searching are now hidden when a search is performed; • Minimize fullscreen windows when they end up in the background; • A context menu has been added to the background actor; • The backgrounds are now handled in the background and the startup animations have been improved; • The universal access menu is now hidden when it's not needed.

A changelog featuring a complete list of updates and improvements can be found in the official announcement. Download GNOME Shell 3.8 Beta 1 right now from Softpedia. Remember that this is a development version and it should NOT be installed on production machines. It is intended for testing purposes only.