These features are only a small fraction of the major changes in GNOME 3.12

Mar 27, 2014 09:59 GMT  ·  By

Now that the GNOME 3.12 desktop environment has been released, it's time to take a closer look at a few of its best features.

The GNOME 3.12 iteration has been greatly anticipated by the Linux community because the developers promised to deliver a lot of new features and important changes. The launch has been a resounding success, but you can't really test GNOME 3.12 right now because it will take a while for the various distributions that use it to actually implement it.

“This is an exciting release for GNOME, and brings many new features and improvements, including app folders, enhanced system status and high-resolution display support. This release also includes new and redesigned applications for video, software, editing, sound recording and internet relay chat,” said GNOME project leader Matthias Clasen.

One of the most talked about changes in the new GNOME 3.12 is the new Software app. If you are not familiar with it, then you must know that this is Software Manager. The GNOME project needed something like this and the new app was made available in 3.10, six months ago.

Even if it was pretty basic when it was first released, Software has evolved considerably and it is now a very powerful tool. The GNOME developers have explained that it now features screenshots for the applications, a rating system, the ability to install separate applications, and even repository management.

GNOME Software
GNOME Software
Another major improvement that can be easily observed in GNOME 3.12 is for Videos (formely Totem). The developers have made some changes and users can now play videos from the computer and from online channels. A number of them have already been implemented and developers can add their own.

Also, the playback view has been redesigned, the playback controls now hide when the user doesn't need them, and the fullscreen playback is much better.

The new Videos app looks great
The new Videos app looks great
The GNOME developers have also worked on the High Resolution Display support, which has been improved tremendously. Even if this is not something new, High Resolution Display support is now very important, as more and more people have started using Linux distros with GNOME on HiDPI displays like the one of the MacBook Pro, for example.
HiDPI support is better than ever
HiDPI support is better than ever
The last feature that needs a special mention (although there is a lot of other interesting stuff in GNOME 3.12 to keep users busy for a long time) is Custom Folders. Users can now organize their applications and not rely on predetermined categories. This can be very useful for people who want to streamline their access to the apps and to improve the productivity.
Custom Folder is a great addition
Custom Folder is a great addition
For more details about GNOME 3.12, please make sure you check our initial report and the very useful video released by the GNOME project.

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