The KDE Plasma 6.5 desktop environment is taking shape, and while the stable release is still a couple of months away—scheduled for October 21—it looks like it will get a major addition: KDE Initial System Setup (KISS).
Originally developed as an internal project, KISS is now being integrated into Plasma as a production-ready component. The feature is designed to handle account creation in cases where no user accounts exist after installation. Until now, Plasma has only offered the Welcome Center, which runs after login.
The new setup tool fills the gap for OEM devices or systems pre-installed by vendors, ensuring users can create accounts the first time they boot. That’s usually something the distro’s installer takes care of for you—assuming, of course, you’re the one doing the installation.
Alongside the setup wizard, several user interface refinements landed. Plasma panels now become scrollable when overloaded with applications or in Touch Mode. Before scrolling kicks in, Task Manager icons compress slightly, but eventually the panel shifts to a scrollable layout.
HDR handling also improves thanks to a refined tone mapping curve in KWin, while System Settings now hides the Drawing Tablet page when no device is connected—though users can still reveal it for troubleshooting.
Accessibility also sees attention. The Shortcuts page in System Settings is now easier to navigate, while the Game Controller page provides more detailed information. Notifications were also adjusted: the “missed notifications” message no longer lingers in history after expiring.
On the reliability side, KDE developers continue to tackle long-standing issues. Plasma 6.5 brings further fixes for desktop icons to reduce shifting or reset behavior when switching layouts. The built-in RDP server received changes to ensure it can be enabled manually across distributions without auto-starting unexpectedly.
Plus, a fix landed for the Audio Volume widget, which sometimes consumed too much panel space.
Lastly, on the performance side, KWin has switched to a lighter timer for its render loop, cutting resource usage across the desktop. Plasma also now implements version 2 of the global shortcuts portal, aligning better with modern desktop standards.
For more information, refer to the KDE’s announcement.
Image credits: KDE Project
