Red Hatโs community Linux distro Fedora version 38 rolled out in beta on March 10, and today, just over a month after, it is officially released and available for download.
This time, however, unlike previous releases, there are no delays or postponements of the initially scheduled release date due to last-minute complications – mainly unresolved bug issues. In other words, the developers have managed to fit into the “Early Final Target date.” So letโs have a look at whatโs new.
Fedora 38 Highlights
With Fedora being known for its cutting-edge technology and commitment to Open Source, this release focuses on an updated desktop experience. On top of that, it gives even more out-of-the-box freedom to the users in choosing software sources.
Moreover, Fedora 38 continues its tradition of providing a stable and secure operating system. It includes the latest security updates, bug fixes, and performance enhancements, making it one of the best choices for any user looking for a modern and reliable desktop experience.
GNOME 44
One of Fedoraโs greatest strengths has always been that, unlike many other Linux distributions offering a GNOME desktop environment often modified with various extensions, it has always insisted on providing its users with a vanilla GNOME experience. This is true of the new release as well.
Fedora 38 ships with the most up-to-date GNOME 44, which offers a host of improvements in performance, stability, and user experience.
The desktop environment introduces new features such as an enhanced login/lock screen, thumbnail view in file picker, and settings panel improvements, making Fedora 38 a modern and user-friendly Linux distribution.
Aside from those above, the new, updated Quick Settings menu is another eye-catching feature that immediately impacts Fedora 38’s users. Why?
Because it comes with new handy capabilities such as a Bluetooth quick settings button displaying which devices are connected and allows them to be connected and disconnected.
Furthermore, it also includes the newly added GNOME 44’s background apps monitoring functionality, allowing you to stop desktop applications running in the background (those running without an open window) via Quick Settings.
Unfiltered Flathub Access
In keeping with its tradition of giving users the most innovative and established software trends, Fedora 38 now provides out-of-the-box unfiltered access to Flathub, the primary software distribution repository for Flatpak apps, which has established itself as the primary alternative to natively distro-dependent packages.
Before this release, the distro offered only Fedora’s Flathub repository (maintained by Fedora devs), a vastly reduced version of the original one, containing only a small number of apps. But that is in the past.
Fedora 38 remove the filtering from Fedora’s Flathub offering, allowing users to use the third-party repositories feature to enable a full version of Flathub.
In other words, when the user opens GNOME Software, all of the apps available on Flathub, which currently offers approximately 2,000, will be available in search results and ready to be installed.
Official Fedora Budgie & Sway Spins
Budgie is a GTK-based desktop environment built on GNOME technologies, traditionally associated with Solus as its flagship desktop environment. Its design emphasizes simplicity, minimalism, and elegance.
At the same time, Fedora is a distribution always open to innovation and enjoys many spins. As a result, you will find official ones with a wide selection of desktop environments and window managers such as KDE Plasma, Xfce, LXQt, MATE, Cinnamon, LXDE, SOAS, and i3.
As you can see, the big missing piece in this list is the Budgie desktop environment. However, this is no longer the case.
Recently, Budgie was officially proposed and accepted to become part of the wide family of Fedora spins. Starting with Fedora 38, it is now available for all users preferring to use Budgie for desktop environments.
Its implementation in Fedora, where the desktop environment comes with its latest Budgie 10.7.1 release, can be described as gorgeous. In addition, the Budgie Spin got a brand-new modern-looking page in conjunction with the recently completely revamped Fedora website.
This release also brings a pleasant surprise for fans of tiling window managers. Fedora 38 now offers the Sway as an official Spin. Using the modern Wayland protocol, it is designed to be a drop-in replacement for the i3 window manager.
Other Fedora 38 Highlights
Regarding desktop environments other than GNOME and Budgie, we canโt help but note that other Fedora Spins have also been updated.
In this light, Fedora 38 KDE includes the most recent Plasma 5.27.4 release. In addition, fans of lightweight desktop environments may enjoy LXQt 1.2.0, Xfce 4.18, and MATE 1.26.1. Finally, to round off the list, Fedora 38 Cinnamon offers version 5.6.8 of the desktop environment.
Under the hood, Fedora 38 ships with Linux kernel 6.2, initially released on February 20. On the desktop side, youโll find the following preinstalled applications:
- LibreOffice 7.5.2 Office Suite
- Firefox 112 Web Browser
- Rhythmbox 3.4.6 Music Player
- Cheese 44 Webcam App
Of course, you’ll also find a completely updated developer stack, including the following:
- GCC 13.0
- Golang 1.20
- Python 3.11
- Perl 5.36
- Ruby 3.2
- PHP 8.2
- Node.js 18.15
- OpenJDK 20
You can visit the release announcement for more detailed information about what’s new.
How to Upgrade to Fedora 38
If you’re currently using Fedora 37 and want to upgrade but are not sure how don’t worry. We got you covered. You can easily upgrade directly to the latest Fedora 38 release by following our comprehensive “How to Upgrade to Fedora 38 from Fedora 37” article.
The whole process is smooth and seamless, and depending on the speed of your internet connection can range from 20 minutes to an hour.
Bottom Line
Fedora 38 is a significant release that brings exciting new features and updates to Linux enthusiasts and professionals alike. In addition, integrating GNOME 44 and unfiltered Flathub access provides a modern and convenient user experience.
So, whether you are a developer, a sysadmin, or a casual Linux desktop user, Fedora 38 is a distribution worth considering for your computing needs. If you want to try it, download the ISO installation image from the project website’s download section.
