Manjaro is an Arch-based Linux distribution that aims to provide a simple and easy-to-use desktop environment. Thanks to its user-friendly design, great support, and powerful features in the last few years, Manjaro has gained a huge user base among Linux users.
And just in time for Christmas, the good news has arrived! Today, the brand-new release of Manjaro 22.0, “Sikaris,” has been announced as a beautiful Christmas present not only for Manjaro users but for all Linux lovers. So, let’s see what’s new.
Manjaro 22.0 “Sikaris” Highlights
This release is about the most recent versions of KDE Plasma 5.26, GNOME 43, and Xfce 4.18 desktop environments, offering users a wide range of options for customizing their computing experience.
Furthermore, under the hood, the distribution includes the Linux kernel 6.1, which provides the most up-to-date drivers and hardware compatibility with most modern devices. Linux kernel 5.15 LTS and 5.10 LTS are also available for installation, providing additional support for older hardware if needed.
KDE Plasma Edition
Manjaro 22.0 “Sikaris” includes the most recent version of the Plasma desktop, 5.26, and the KDE Gear 22.12 software collection maintained by the KDE community. This provides users with all of the benefits of the most recent version of the desktop environment. Let’s recall the most important of them.
Dolphin file manager now features a selection mode, which allows you to click or tap on files and folders to quickly and conveniently select the ones you want to work with.
In addition, Gwenview now allows you to control the brightness, contrast, and gamma, Kate has introduced the Keyboard Macro tool, and the Kalendar app now displays events in pop-up windows.
GNOME Edition
GNOME users will be pleased with the latest release of the desktop environment, GNOME 43, announced earlier in September and included all of the advantages that the most recent version of the desktop environment brings.
Undoubtedly, the new Quick Settings menu is one of the most noticeable improvements. It allows you to easily change some frequently used settings, UI mode, for example, with a button.
On top of that, the ability to switch between different audio outputs is another beneficial and convenient feature introduced by the new Quick Settings. So, if you have a PC speaker and headphones connected to your PC simultaneously, you can switch between them with a single click.
Files, one of the essential apps, has received special attention in GNOME 43. File and folder properties have been given a modern look that provides an excellent overview of each object. They also offer new functionality, such as a button to open the parent folder.
The Layouts Switcher app, built in-house exclusively for Manjaro users has received some new features in Manjaro 22.0, as well as many enhancements and improvements.
For example, you can now create your dynamic wallpaper. At the same time, Gradience, a tool for customizing Libadwaita-based applications, allows you to customize your theme from within the app easily. There are numerous present options available, or you can design your own.
Last but not least, the Manjaro 22.0 GNOME edition returns to the distribution’s “green” origins, with green accents placed in many places across the entire desktop environment – the folders in the Files app, the GDM login screen, and so on.
Xfce Edition
After the release of the brand new Xfce 4.18 desktop environment a few days ago, EndeavourOS “Cassini” was the first distro to include it in a release edition for its users. Manjaro 22.0 “Sikaris” is the second distro that ships with Xfce 4.18 to its users.
Of course, there are numerous improvements in the latest version of the desktop environment. For example, the Thunar file manager can now display the count of containing files for directories in the โSizeโ column in the list view. Moreover, it can now undo and redo basic file operations such as move, rename, trash, link, and create actions.
Furthermore, Xfce 4.18 brings to the scene a file highlighting, making the user experience more colorful in the literal sense. Under the hood, scaling has been improved with UI scaling support, and there is a newly redesigned Clock plugin which includes a sleep monitor and a new binary time mode.
Bottom Line
Manjaro 22.0 “Sikaris” is a major release that includes updated versions of popular desktop environments such as KDE Plasma 5.26, GNOME 43, and Xfce 4.18. This release is likely to interest users looking for a stable, Arch-based, well-supported operating system, including the latest versions of these desktop environments.
So, whether you are a power user looking for a customizable and feature-rich desktop environment or a beginner seeking a simple and reliable operating system, Manjaro 22.0 “Sikaris” is worth considering.
You can refer to the official announcement for detailed information about all changes.
Download Manjaro 22.0
For fresh installation of Manjaro 22.0, you can download the ISO file and use a tool such as Balena Etcher to flash it onto a USB drive. Then boot from the USB and follow the on-screen instructions.
