Manjaro has released a preview of version 26.1, codenamed “Bian-May,” providing early access to the upcoming installation media before the final release. This preview follows Manjaro 26.0 “Anh-Linh,” released in January 2026, and is available for Xfce, GNOME, and KDE Plasma editions.
The GNOME edition now features the GNOME 50 series, introduced in March and updated with additional fixes. Key enhancements include expanded parental controls, such as screen-time monitoring, child account limits, bedtime schedules, automatic screen locking, and options to extend screen time as needed.
On top of that, Manjaro now includes Big Parental Controls 1.0 from BigLinux, a related Brazilian project, to address recent legal requirements in Brazil.
Improvements in GNOME 50 include hardware acceleration via Vulkan and VA-API, which enables the GPU to handle video streaming for remote sessions, reducing lag and power consumption while enhancing performance. Explicit sync support has also been added, improving stability for systems with NVIDIA drivers.
Display handling has been further improved with Variable Refresh Rate and fractional scaling, which now offer better usability, and the cursor remains smooth at the monitor’s maximum refresh rate during VRR sessions, even if applications run at lower frame rates.
The GNOME edition also features NVIDIA performance improvements to address stuttering and frame-timing issues, support for Wayland color management protocol version 2, and HDR screen sharing for more accurate sharing and recording of High Dynamic Range content.
The KDE Plasma edition includes Plasma 6.6 (v6.6.4), KDE Frameworks 6.25, and KDE Gear 26.04 apps collection. Plasma 6.6 introduces usability and accessibility enhancements, including converting the current desktop setup into a global theme compatible with day-and-night theme switching.
Moreover, Plasma Setup is a new feature that separates technical installation and disk partitioning from user-facing steps like account creation and network configuration.
The Xfce edition ships with Xfce 4.20, in which Thunar adds file highlighting from the properties dialog, enabling custom background and foreground colors for selected files. The file manager also supports recursive search for improved file discovery.
The Xfce panel now sets its length in pixels rather than percentages and offers an option to keep the panel above windows, allowing maximized applications to extend behind it. The Control Centre adds new options for dialog header bars, file context menu behavior, and default multi-monitor handling.
Last but not least, Manjaro 26.1 “Bian-May” defaults to Linux kernel 7.0, offering updated driver support for current hardware. Linux 6.18 LTS and 6.12 LTS remain available for users requiring long-term support or compatibility with older systems.
For more details, see the announcement. The preview images are now available for Xfce, GNOME, and KDE Plasma editions.
