14 DAY TRIAL // After revealing the first set of new features and improvements coming to the KDE Plasma 5.15 desktop environment, due for release in early December, KDE developer Nate Graham published a new installation of his "This Week in Usability & Productivity" report with more details about KDE Plasma 5.15's changes.
According to the report, the KDE Plasma 5.15 desktop environment will make it easier for users to check and uncheck all available updates or select only the ones they want to apply from Plasma Discover's redesigned Updates page. This feature wouldn't be possible with the hard work of Aleix Pol Gonzalez.
KDE Plasma 5.15 also promises to allow NumLock enablement during boot on Wayland, improve the readability of the Kickoff Application Menu with subtle lines that separate the content view from the tab bar and header, as well as to fix the many inconsistencies between the light and dark variants of the Breeze theme.
It will also fix System Settings' category name for KWin's global shortcuts to no longer change randomly, improve many System Settings pages to standardize the placement of the bottom buttons, wording, and icons, and revamp the layout of various Folder View settings pages to better match the default style.
KDE Plasma 5.15 enters beta January 17, launches February 12, 2019
System Settings' Workspace page was also improved in KDE Plasma 5.15 to look good when using a fractional scale factor. The KDE Plasma 5.15 desktop environment will be compatible with both the Qt 5.11 and Qt 5.12 software frameworks, and is dependable on the upcoming KDE Frameworks 5.54 software suite, due for release on January 12, 2019.
The final release of the KDE Plasma 5.15 desktop environment is expected to hit the streets soon after its February 12 launch, but it should be available for public testing as a beta version on January 17, 2019. Until then we recommend updating your Plasma desktops to KDE Plasma 5.14.3, which launches tomorrow afternoon, November 6. Check out the screenshot gallery below to see the new features and improvements in action.
