KaOS 2024.03 Launches with Plasma 6.0

March's KaOS release brings a much-anticipated Plasma 6 desktop environment with Wayland as default and waving goodbye to GTK2 in KaOS.
KaOS 2024.03 Launches with Plasma 6.0

Known for its focus on KDE and Qt, everything in the latest release of KaOS 2024.03 is as you would expect, with a focus on KDE MegaRelease 6.

In early February, the distribution launched its 2024.01 version, offering an early preview of the desktop environment based on its RC2. Now, fans of this distribution, heavily influenced by Arch Linux and utilizing the XFS file system, are being treated to the stable release of Plasma 6 in all its splendor. Let’s see what’s new.

KaOS 2024.03 Highlights

KaOS 2024.03
KaOS 2024.03

In KaOS 2024.03, Plasma 6.0 shines with its KDE Gear 24.02 apps collections and Frameworks 6.0. Moreover, Plasma’s partial High Dynamic Range (HDR) support on Wayland now enhances the visual experience on supported monitors and software with richer and deeper colors. This primarily benefits multimedia content, offering a superior viewing experience for games and videos.

The update introduces user-friendly defaults such as single-click file and folder selection, touchpad tap-to-click, Wayland as the default graphical session, and other usability enhancements contributing to a more intuitive and efficient user interface.

Significant to this release is the complete removal of GTK2 from the KaOS repositories. In light of this, the last major GTK2-dependent application, Ardour, has transitioned to an internal toolkit.

System updates include upgrades to the GCC toolchain, Linux kernel 6.7.9, systemd v253, and other foundational components, ensuring improved system stability and compatibility. Additionally, the release incorporates Systemdgenie, a GUI tool integrated with Plasma 6 for managing systemd services.

SDDM, the preferred display manager for KaOS, has been updated to support Wayland, paving the way for a future shift away from X11. The Calamares installer has also been improved, including automated partitioning with support for all popular filesystems.

Lastly, KaOS 2024.03 also introduces LibreOffice as the default office suite, now fully based on Qt6/Plasma 6, replacing Calligra.

Please refer to the release announcement for detailed information about all changes. Installation ISO images can be downloaded from here.

Bobby Borisov

Bobby Borisov

Bobby, an editor-in-chief at Linuxiac, is a Linux professional with over 20 years of experience. With a strong focus on Linux and open-source software, he has worked as a Senior Linux System Administrator, Software Developer, and DevOps Engineer for small and large multinational companies.

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