The final release will arrive on June 11th

May 16, 2019 16:33 GMT  ·  By

The KDE Project released today the beta version of their upcoming KDE Plasma 5.16 desktop environment to give the community an early taste of what's coming.

KDE Plasma 5.16 is a major release that introduces numerous new features and improvements, across many of the built-in apps but also under the hood to make your KDE Plasma experience better, more stable, and more enjoyable. One of the highlights of KDE Plasma 5.16 is the completely revamped notifications system.

It supports a Do Not Disturb mode, richer notifications for file transfers, a more intelligent history with grouping, the ability to display notifications in full-screen applications, and lots of configuration options for users in a revamped and more usable System Settings page.

Other exciting things to look forward on the KDE Plasma 5.16 release is the much-improved login, logout and lock screen theme, improved support for Nvidia proprietary graphics drivers on Wayland, improved support and reliability for AppImages in Plasma Discover, and a much-improved Networks widget.

Most of the Settings pages received a visual polish as well in KDE Plasma 5.16, which also brings numerous enhancements to the Plasma Desktop for widgets, system tray, wallpaper slideshow settings, Dolphin file manager, Plasma Vaults, Breeze window and menu shadow color, and much more.

KDE Plasma 5.16 will launch on June 11th, 2019

The final release of the KDE Plasma 5.16 desktop environment will launch on June 11th, 2019. Like all previous releases, it will feature a new default wallpaper, but this time the KDE Project decided to put up a wallpaper contest where everyone can participate, submit their artwork, and win a KDE-powered Slimbook One v2 computer.

"The winner will receive a Slimbook One v2 computer, an eco-friendly, compact machine, measuring only 12.4x12.8x3.7 cm. It comes with an i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and is capable of outputting video in glorious 4K," reads the announcement. "Naturally, yours will come decked out with the upcoming KDE Plasma 5.16 desktop, your spectacular wallpaper, and a bunch of great software made by KDE."

If you want to test the beta release of the KDE Plasma 5.16 desktop enviroment, you get download the live or Docker images from the release page, as well as to compile the sources or install packages from a dedicated repository for your favorite GNU/Linux distribution. KDE Plasma 5.16 will be supported with five maintenance updates until September 2019.

Improved login screen theme
Improved login screen theme
Completely revamped notifications
Completely revamped notifications
Improved application style and Appearance Settings
Improved application style and Appearance Settings
Improved color scheme
Improved color scheme

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KDE Plasma 5.16 beta
Improved login screen themeCompletely revamped notifications
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