KDE has released Plasma 6.8 for its 30th birthday, and the headline change is a goodbye: Plasma will go fully Wayland and stop starting new X11 sessions. If you run a KDE desktop on Linux, that decides whether you move to 6.8 or stay put for now.
X11, the display protocol that has been around for more than four decades, is losing a major desktop. Users who stay on Plasma 6.7 keep their existing sessions for the time being.
What else is in Plasma 6.8
The release improves window decorations, such as shadows and rounded corners, on third-party apps, and tidies up the Union theming system. Nvidia (NVDA) users get triple buffering switched on by default, a technique that smooths out display timing. Kup, KDE's backup utility, is now built into Plasma, and a new command-line tool called kscreenctl lets power users adjust display settings. System Monitor can now pin processes to specific CPU cores from the graphical interface.
A rebuilt remote desktop for homelabbers
The most practical upgrade may be Plasma's built-in remote desktop server, reworked for clients that connect to virtual displays over a network. It now syncs the clipboard between client and server. An "Exclusive Mode" locks the server's physical screen and lets the client set a virtual display matching its own PC, while adaptive streaming aims to keep things steady on slower networks.
Those are KDE's own descriptions as relayed by Ars Technica. We haven't tested them, so how well they work is unknown.
A documentary for the anniversary
Alongside the release, the team debuted a film, The KDE Documentary: A Story of Free Software Underdogs. It opens with contributors laughing as they try to answer the question "What is KDE?"
This story is a summary of Ars Technica's report, not independent reporting: we haven't contacted KDE or tested the release. That report says nothing on when 6.8 reaches distributions or how long 6.7 stays supported. Both are worth watching.
Are you still on X11 for a reason, such as an app or workflow that Wayland hasn't solved for you?
Sources
- 1.KDE turns 30 with Plasma 6.8, remote upgrades, and an X11 farewell · Ars Technica
Reported by the WattsUpNext desk from the sources linked below. Spot an error? Tell us at corrections@wattsupnext.com.
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