Manjaro 20.1 Mikah Comes With New Kernel And Refreshed User Interface

Manjaro is a desktop-oriented operating system based on Arch Linux. Manjaro has a focus on user friendliness and the system itself is designed to work fully “straight out of the box” with its variety of pre-installed software.

In other words, it has all the benefits of Arch, but without the hassles and headaches. This makes it a great choice for both Linux experts and beginners.

What’s new in Manjaro 20.1

Manjaro 20.1 continuing the support for the ZFS file system. Version 20.1 has now enabled ZFS installation by providing the needed kernel modules. Manjaro 20.1 has also replaced its previous kernel 5.6 with the latest stable kernel 5.8.

Version 20.1 has updated its default package manager, Pamac, from v9.4 to v9.5. Subsequently, it leads to an enhanced alpm error handling and improved database performance. Also internal check dep algorithm, and internal search algorithm has been optimized.

The Xfce edition, witch is Manjaro flagship, has received the attention it deserves. Manjaro 20.1 comes with Xfce 4.14 and have mostly focused on polishing the user experience with the desktop and window manager. Also it switched to a new theme called Matcha.

A new feature Display-Profiles allows you to store one or more profiles for your preferred display configuration. We also have implemented auto-application of profiles when new displays are connected.

Similarly, KDE edition has also switched its Plasma desktop from version 5.18 to the latest 5.19.

Manjaro 20.1 Gnome edition is based on 3.36 series and include visual refreshes for a number of applications and interfaces, particularly noteworthy being the login and unlock interfaces. GNOME shell extensions are now managed using a new Extensions app which handles updating, configuring and removing or disabling extensions.

Pamac 9.5 series received a few updates. In has optimized internal check dep algorithm for smarter performance. Also it has enhanced the alpm error handling, optimized internal search algorithm for better regex support and applied database performance improvements.

How to upgrade to the v20.1

As Manjaro is a rolling release Linux distribution, you only need to update your package database and all packages on the system to switch to the new version 20.1. To do the same, run the following command in your terminal: