The LXQt team has announced LXQt 2.5, the latest version of the lightweight Qt-based desktop environment.
One notable change is the removal of the menu-cache dependency, the final component LXQt relied on from the older LXDE project. Its functionality has been replaced by a built-in desktop menu in LibFM-Qt, which, according to the developers, performs the same tasks more efficiently and faster.
QTerminal and its underlying QTermWidget library have received several new features. These include additional background image modes, an optional visual bell, support for OSC-8 hyperlinks, and Shift+click selection for highlighting text ranges. Users can now maximize an individual sub-terminal and enable notifications when terminal output stops in a minimized window.
Moreover, QTerminal now warns users when a process exits unsuccessfully and provides an option to save the terminal history. D-Bus support has also been substantially improved.
On the file management side, PCManFM-Qt supports optional incremental search results, allowing users to see matching files as a search progresses. A new stop button in the status bar lets users interrupt lengthy searches without losing results already collected. This functionality is disabled by default.
Another addition is an option to disable wallpaper caching in Desktop Preferences, letting desktop backgrounds retain their original image quality. The file manager also fixes an occasional issue with ghost entries in the directory tree and prevents users from accidentally moving column headers in detailed list view.
LXQt Panel receives several refinements. The Network Monitor plugin now respects the panel’s configured icon size and can prioritize system icons. The Custom Command plugin gains a minimum-width setting, while the backlight plugin displays the current brightness level in its tooltip.
Additionally, D-Bus task commands now work correctly with auto-hiding panels, and several plugin configuration dialogs have been adjusted to use the Close button as their default action.
Other changes include a fix for brightness detection on systems with AMD graphics hardware, implemented in LibLXQt. Moreover, pavucontrol-qt, LXQt’s audio volume control utility, supports Bluetooth audio codec selection with corresponding interface integration.
Finally, the developers have highlighted a known issue affecting X11 sessions. The removal of X11 support from libkscreen 6.8 has broken LXQt’s Monitor Settings functionality under X11. The team plans to restore compatibility by implementing the necessary X11 functions directly, with a follow-up point release expected once the fix is ready.
For more information, see the announcement.
As soon I saw Lxqt I dreamed about a native Lxqt Wayland Session.
But I still can dream.
Thank you Labwc, but I want a full Lxqt Wayland session. As I need a Xfce one 😉