OpenMandriva, a desktop-centric distro with roots in the once legendary Mandrake, has unveiled its latest offering, the rolling ROME 24.07 powered by Linux kernel 6.10. Let’s see what’s changed.
What’s New in OpenMandriva ROME 24.07
The release highlights the transition to KDE Plasma 6 (6.1.3) as the default desktop environment, accompanied by KDE Gear 24.05.2 app collection and Frameworks 6.4.
Additionally, OpenMandriva offers spins featuring LXQt 2.0 and GNOME 46.3, ensuring that users have multiple options to tailor their desktop environment to their preferences.
It is important to note that the distro provides a separate ROME Plasma 6 Wayland installation ISO (“openmandriva.rome-24.07-plasma6.wayland.x86_64.iso“) additionally to the main one (“openmandriva.rome-24.07-plasma6.x11.x86_64.iso“) which still betting on Xorg, for those eager to explore the latest display server protocols.
In addition, OpenMandriva 24.07 also provides Plasma 5 ISO (“openmandriva.rome-24.07-plasma5.x86_64.iso“) for those who don’t necessarily want to be on the bleeding edge and prefer the familiar desktop experience.
However, the devs noted that Wayland may not yet be mature enough to replace X11 for most users. Issues such as booting to a black screen in VirtualBox are known but work smoothly on compatible hardware and in QEmu with KVM.
Gaming leaps forward by including Proton and its experimental variant as a prebuilt installation package. This is the first time Proton has been made available outside of Steam without requiring any non-free code, making it easier for users to run Windows games.
Moreover, OM Welcome, a new startup and configuration tool, merges features from OMA Welcome and OM Control Center, offering a centralized hub for system configuration and software installation.
Regarding software, OpenMandriva ROME 24.07 comes packed with the latest and greatest, including LibreOffice 24.2.5, Chromium Browser 126.0, and Firefox 128.0, all patched for enhanced privacy.
Developers will find the new rpmโs Declarative Build feature particularly useful. It simplifies the build process for various systems, such as CMake, Meson, and Autotools.
Key updates to development tools such as LLVM/Clang 18.1, GCC 14.1, and Mesa 24.1 are geared towards enhancing the development environment on OpenMandriva.
Lastly, it is worth mentioning that OpenMandriva is preparing builds for various aarch64 devices and actively working on a RISC-V port, promising exciting developments in the subsequent release.
Refer to the release announcement for detailed information about all changes. If you want to give OpenMandriva ROME 24.07 a try, the installation ISO images are available on SourceForge.
