Arch Linux (BTW) is truly a very special distribution, and its dedicated developers have once again proven why it enjoys such huge popularity and continuity, making Arch once again the champion of delivering the latest and greatest to its users.
Just 24 hours after the official release of the Plasma 6.3 desktop environment, it’s already available in Arch’s stable repositories, ready for upgrade or installation.
Regarding the desktop environment itself, as always, the KDE developers have created a visually stunning and immersive experience for users. We’ve already covered it in detail in our review at launch. But let’s quickly revisit its highlights:
- Fractional Scaling Overhaul: Sharper, crisper images, plus Night Light color accuracy improvements even when using ICC profiles.
- KWin Pixel-Perfect Zoom: The Zoom effect becomes razor-sharp at high magnifications. Overlays a grid to pinpoint and compare individual pixels.
- Drawing Tablet Configuration: New tabbed layout and refined calibration. Customizable surface-to-screen mapping, pressure curves, and stylus button remapping,
- Clone Panels with One Click: Duplicate your panel setups instantly. Scripting support for panel placement and opacity.
- Enhanced Hardware Monitoring: More accurate CPU usage with less resource consumption. GPU details in Info Center, plus battery cycle counts.
- KRunner Improvements: Jump between search categories using Page Up/Page Down or Ctrl+Up/Down. Still handles conversions, calculations, graph plotting, and more.
- Discover’s Security Enhancements: Notifies you of changed permissions in sandboxed apps after updates. Shows whether an app is packaged by its developer or a trusted third party.
- Better Usability & Clarity: Touchpad can auto-disable when using a mouse. “Help” category in the launcher for easier support access. Refined menu behaviors (click vs. hover) and symbolic link context options.
- Greater Customization: Symbolic icons in Kickoff’s sidebar can be reverted or changed via Menu Editor. Widget Explorer can remove lost or inactive widgets. Editing desktop files directly opens KDE’s Menu Editor for quick tweaks.
One of the biggest advantages of using Arch is that you get a pure, vanilla KDE Plasma experience. In other words, you get exactly what the upstream developers intended—no added “creative visions” or modifications like you might find in other distributions. If you have a specific setup in mind, you’re free to customize it however you like to match your own tastes.
So, if you’re an Arch user excited to try out the new Plasma 6.3 desktop environment, getting started is simple:
sudo pacman -S plasma-meta kde-applications-metaCode language: Bash (bash)Already using the previous 6.2.x series’ version? No problem. Just update your system to upgrade to the latest release:
sudo pacman -SyuCode language: Bash (bash)And one last thing—if you feel unsure about Arch’s Pacman package manager, don’t worry. Our “Beginner’s Guide to Using Pacman on Arch Linux” is here to help. It’s packed with tips to make managing software on this amazing Linux distro a breeze.
So, dive in, give Plasma 6.3 a try, and experience the difference for yourself. Happy Arching!
