14 DAY TRIAL // The KDE Project released the first point release of their latest KDE Plasma 5.17 desktop environment for Linux-based operating system, a maintenance update that brings many bug fixes.
Released last week on October 15th, the KDE Plasma 5.17 desktop environment introduces Night Color support on X11, fractional scaling on Wayland, HiDPI and multi-screen improvements, as well as the ability to support for managing and configuring Thunderbolt devices in System Settings.
It also improves the notification system with a new Do Not Disturb mode that automatically detects presentations, Breeze GTK theme support for the Google Chrome and Chromium web browsers, Nvidia GPU stats in System Settings, and color scheme support for GTK and GNOME apps in the Breeze GTK theme.
KDE Plasma 5.17.1 is here as the first point release to the KDE Plasma 5.17 desktop environment, adding a total of 40 changes across various core components and apps, including Plasma Workspace, Plasma Desktop, KWin, KScreen, Discover, Plasma Addons, System Settings, Plasma Audio Volume Control, SDDM KCM, plasma-browser-integration, and Plasma Networkmanager.
Highlights include persistent notifications in the Plasma Discover package manager, better support for laptops in KScreen, improved acceleration profile on X11 for Mouse KCM, the ability to default to Full duplex on a wired connection when duplex is not set, support for multiple artists in Media Controller, and SDDM previews now show correct device size.
KDE Plasma 5.17.2 is coming on October 29th
The second point release of the KDE Plasma 5.17 desktop environment, KDE Plasma 5.17.2, is scheduled for release later this month on October 29th. Most probably it will include even more bug fixes as the KDE Project aims to make their laters Plasma release more stable and reliable for all users.
Until then, we recommend installing the KDE Plasma 5.17.1 maintenance update as soon as the packages are available in the stable software repositories of your favorite GNU/Linux distribution, and always remember to keep your OS and installed apps up-to-date at all times. Full details about the changes included in KDE Plasma 5.17.1 are available here.