Posts 

Categories

Plasma 5.19 Beta Ready for Testing

Thursday, 14 May 2020  |  Jriddell
<figure class="topImage">
    <a href="https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.19/plasma-5.19-2.png" data-toggle="lightbox">
        <img src="https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.19/plasma-5.19-2.png" height="450" width="800" style="width: 100%; max-width: 800px; height: auto;" alt="Plasma 5.19 Beta" />
    </a>
    <figcaption>KDE Plasma 5.19 Beta</figcaption>
</figure>

<p>Thursday, 14 May 2020.</p>

<p>It's time to test the beta release for <a href="https://kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18.90">Plasma 5.19</a>!</p>

<p>In this release, we have prioritized making Plasma more consistent, correcting and unifying designs of widgets and desktop elements; worked on giving you more control over your desktop by adding configuration options to the System Settings; and improved usability, making Plasma and its components easier to use and an overall more pleasurable experience.</p>

<p>Read on to discover all the new features and improvements of Plasma 5.19…</p>

<h2 id="desktop">Plasma Desktop and Widgets</h2>

<figure class="float-right text-right">
    <a href="https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.19/sensors.png" data-toggle="lightbox">
        <img src="https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.19/sensors.png" class="border-0 img-fluid" width="242"  alt="Rewritten System Monitor Widgets" />
    </a>
    <figcaption>Rewritten System Monitor Widgets</figcaption>
    <br />
    <a href="https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.19/system-tray-applets.png" data-toggle="lightbox">
        <img src="https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.19/system-tray-applets.png" class="border-0 img-fluid" width="242"  alt="Consistent System Tray Applets" />
    </a>
    <figcaption>Consistent System Tray Applets</figcaption>
    <br />
    <a href="https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.19/user-avatars.png" data-toggle="lightbox">
        <img src="https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.19/user-avatars.png" class="border-0 img-fluid" width="242"  alt="Completely New User Avatars" />
    </a>
    <figcaption>Completely New User Avatars</figcaption>
    <br />
    <a href="https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.19/multi-device-switching-ui.png" data-toggle="lightbox">
        <img src="https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.19/multi-device-switching-ui.png" class="border-0 img-fluid" width="242"  alt="More consistent appearance for switching the current audio device" />
    </a>
    <figcaption>More consistent appearance for switching the current audio device</figcaption>
</figure>

<ul>
  • We have improved the panel spacer so that it can automatically center widgets
  • The System Monitor widgets have been rewritten from scratch
  • Plasma now has a consistent design and header area in system tray applets as well as notifications
  • We have refreshed the look of the media playback applet in the System Tray and of Task Manager tooltips
  • There are completely new photographic avatars to choose from
  • You can now see the name of the creator of a desktop wallpaper when you go to pick one
  • Sticky notes get usability improvements
  • You now have more control over the visibility of volume OSDs during certain situations
  • GTK 3 applications immediately apply a newly selected color scheme and GTK 2 applications no longer have broken colors
  • We have increased the default fixed-width font size from 9 to 10
  • More consistent appearance with less ugly UI for switching the current audio device
  • <br clear="all" />
    

    <h2 id="systemsettings">System Settings</h2>

    <figure class="float-right text-right"> <video width="350" height="240" autoplay="true" loop> <source src="https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.19/krunner.webm" type="video/webm" /> </video> <figcaption>Full System Settings App Is Now Launching</figcaption> <br /> <a href="https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.19/redesigned-kcms.png" data-toggle="lightbox"> <img src="https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.19/redesigned-kcms.png" class="border-0 img-fluid" width="350" alt="Redesigned Settings Pages" /> </a> <figcaption>Redesigned Settings Pages</figcaption> </figure>

    <ul>

  • Default Applications, Online Accounts, Global Shortcuts, KWin Rules and Background Services settings pages have all been overhauled
  • When launching System Settings modules from within KRunner or the application launcher, the complete System Settings application launches on the page you asked for
  • The Display settings page now shows the aspect ratio for each available screen resolution
  • You now have more granular control over Plasma's animation speed
  • We have added configurable file indexing for individual directories and you can now disable indexing for hidden files
  • There is now an option that lets you configure the mouse and touchpad scroll speed under Wayland
  • We have made lots of small improvements to the font configuration
  • <br clear="all" />
    

    <h2 id="kinfocenter">Info Center</h2>

    <figure class="float-right text-right"> <a href="https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.19/kinfocenter.png" data-toggle="lightbox"> <img src="https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.19/kinfocenter.png" class="border-0 img-fluid" width="350" alt="Redesigned Info Center" /> </a> <figcaption>Redesigned Info Center</figcaption> </figure>

    <ul>

  • The Info Center application has been redesigned with a look and feel that is consistent with the System Settings
  • It is now possible to see information about your graphics hardware
  • <br clear="all" />
    

    <h2 id="kwin">KWin Window Manager</h2>

    <figure class="float-right text-right"> <a href="https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.19/recoloured-icons.png" data-toggle="lightbox"> <img src="https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.19/recoloured-icons.png" class="border-0 img-fluid" width="249" alt="Icon Recoloring in the Titlebar" /> </a> <figcaption>Icon Recoloring in the Titlebar</figcaption> </figure>

    <ul>

  • The new subsurface clipping for Wayland greatly reduces the flickering in many applications
  • Icons in titlebars are now recolored to fit the color scheme instead of sometimes being hard to see
  • And in Wayland screen rotation now works for tablets and convertable laptops
  • <br clear="all" />
    

    <h2 id="discover">Discover</h2>

    <figure class="float-right text-right"> <a href="https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.19/discover.png" data-toggle="lightbox"> <img src="https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.19/discover.png" class="border-0 img-fluid" width="350" alt="Flatpak Repository Removal in Discover" /> </a> <figcaption>Flatpak Repository Removal in Discover</figcaption> </figure>

    <ul>

  • Flatpak repositories in use are easier to remove now
  • Discover displays the application version for reviews
  • Discover improved its visual and usability consistency
  • <br clear="all" />
    

    <h2 id="ksysguard">KSysGuard</h2>

    <ul>
    
  • Our system monitor KSysGuard has gained support for systems with more than 12 CPU cores
  • <br clear="all" />
    

    <a href="https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18.5-5.18.90-changelog.php">Full Plasma 5.19 Beta changelog</a>

    Welcoming our Google Summer of Code Students for 2020

    Saturday, 9 May 2020  |  Unknow

    by Akhil K Gangadharan and Valorie Zimmerman


    The KDE Community welcomes our students for Google Summer Of Code 2020!

    We are so grateful to the GSoC program for offering this opportunity to the KDE Community and our students. By the end of the summer, we hope that each of these students will be a confident KDE Developer, happy with their summer of work, and looking forward to supporting their code and newfound friends far into the future.

    Read More

    Akademy 2020 — Call for Proposals

    Monday, 4 May 2020  |  Sealne


    Akademy 2020 is getting closer and the KDE Community is warming up for its biggest yearly event. If you are working on topics relevant to KDE, this is your chance to present your work and ideas to the community at large.

    Read More

    KONTENT GmbH is a New KDE e.V. Supporter

    Monday, 27 April 2020  |  Jriddell

    KDE e.V. is very happy to welcome KONTENT GmbH as one of our supporting members.

    We from KONTENT are Linux enthusiasts since our beginning, back in the 90s. So KDE was at anytime a well known, high quality brand for us. It was just a matter of time that we would get in closer contact to the community. This moment has come now, and we are very proud of it. Maybe in the future we can not just help in financial matters, but also in an inspiring way.

    Uli Klinkhammer, CEO of KONTENT GmbH

    Read More

    Don't miss Akademy 2020 — This Year KDE is going Online!

    Wednesday, 15 April 2020  |  Sealne


    The KDE Community will be hosting Akademy 2020 online between Friday 4th and Friday 11th September.

    The conference is expected to draw hundreds of attendees from the global KDE Community. Participants will showcase, discuss and plan the future of the Community and its technology. Members from the broader Free and Open Source Software community, local organizations and software companies will also attend.

    Read More

    Plasma on TV: Presenting Plasma Bigscreen

    Thursday, 26 March 2020  |  Paul Brown

    Plasma Bigscreen main menu.


    Plasma Bigscreen is KDE's user interface for big TV screens.

    Plasma Bigscreen powers the interface on a Single Board Computer and uses the Mycroft AI voice assistant to provide a Smart TV platform. Plasma Bigscreen will deliver not only media-rich applications, but also traditional desktop applications redesigned to fit the Bigscreen experience.

    Read More

    KDE Video Competition Winners

    Tuesday, 25 February 2020  |  Unknow

    By Niccolo Venerandi


    On the 20th of February, our first video contest finished and winners were decided by a panel of judges.

    This was the first time we run a video contest and we were really excited to see how much the community got involved, the quality of the videos and the onboarding effect that this contest would have.

    Read More

    Gpg4KDE & GPG4win Approved for Transmission & Processing of National Classified Information

    Tuesday, 18 February 2020  |  Paul Brown


    Something that may have slipped you by: Back in November, the German Federal Office for Information Security approved Gpg4KDE and Gpg4win for the transmission and processing of national classified information.

    Read More

    Show Your Love for Free Software

    Friday, 14 February 2020  |  Jriddell

    In recent decades, Free and open source software (FOSS) has increasingly been the enabling factor for advances in areas we probably aren’t even aware of. If software is still spreading around the world, FOSS had already spread through the software world. All of that is only possible because of striving communities that push solutions forward with an amazing flow of continuous passion and love for nice technology, open knowledge, and supporting people. KDE is not any different - we have all been involved in such a lovely addiction for 23 years.

    Read More

    Videos From KDE Talks at FOSDEM

    Wednesday, 12 February 2020  |  Jriddell


    FOSDEM is one of the world's largest Free software conferences and was held last weekend in Brussels. There were hundreds of talks and videos are available for most of them. KDE had a stall there and KDE contributors delivered three talks spread between different devrooms.

    Read More