A brand new version of the Plasma desktop is now available.
In Plasma 5.18 you will find neat new features that make notifications clearer, settings more streamlined and the overall look more attractive. Plasma 5.18 is easier and more fun to use, while at the same time allowing you to be more productive when it is time to work.
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Volna by Nikita Babin wins KDE's 2nd Wallpaper contest. Volna will be upcoming Plasma 5.18's default wallpaper.
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This is the not the first time Handshake has made a substantial donation to the KDE Community. Back in 2018 Handshake donated approximately USD 300,000 to KDE which was used to finance projects and fund activities.
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The prizes are two fantastic TUXEDO computers, one per category, which will undoubtedly boost your film rendering capacity. There are also 12 goodie packages for runner-ups, and who doesn't need more Linux shirts, caps and stickers?
Read More<figure class="topImage">
<a href="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18/plasma-5.18.png" data-toggle="lightbox">
<img src="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18/plasma-5.18-wee.png" height="450" width="800" style="width: 100%; max-width: 600px; height: auto;" alt="Plasma 5.18 LTS Beta" />
</a>
<figcaption><a href="https://kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.17.90">KDE Plasma 5.18 LTS Beta</a></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Thursday, 16 January 2020.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.17.90">Plasma 5.18 LTS Beta</a> is out!</p>
<p>This new version of your favorite desktop environment adds neat new features that make your life easier, including clearer notifications, streamlined settings for your system and the desktop layout, much improved GTK integration, and more. Plasma 5.18 is easier and more fun, while at the same time allowing you to do more tasks faster.</p>
<p>Apart from all the cool new stuff, Plasma 5.18 also comes with LTS status. LTS stands for "Long Term Support" and this means 5.18 will be updated and maintained by KDE contributors for the next couple of years (regular versions are maintained for 4 months). So, if you are thinking of updating or migrating your school, company or organization to Plasma, this version is your best bet. You get the most recent stable version of Plasma for the long term.</p>
<p>Read on to discover everything that is new in Plasma 5.18 LTS…</p>
<h2 id="desktop">Plasma</h2>
<figure class="float-right text-right">
<a href="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18/emoji.png" data-toggle="lightbox">
<img src="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18/emoji-wee.png" class="border-0 img-fluid" width="350" height="266" alt="Emoji Selector" />
</a>
<figcaption>Emoji Selector</figcaption>
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18/customize-layout.png" data-toggle="lightbox">
<img src="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18/customize-layout-wee.png" class="border-0 img-fluid" width="350" height="197" alt="Customize Layout Global Settings" />
</a>
<figcaption>Customize Layout Global Settings</figcaption>
<br />
<!--
<a href="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18/do-not-disturb.png" data-toggle="lightbox">
<img src="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18/do-not-disturb-wee.png" class="border-0 img-fluid" width="350" height="306" alt="Do Not Disturb Shortcut" />
</a>
<figcaption>Do Not Disturb Shortcut</figcaption>
<br />
-->
<a href="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18/gtk-csd-theme.png" data-toggle="lightbox">
<img src="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18/gtk-csd-theme.png" class="border-0 img-fluid" width="350" height="237" alt="GTK Apps with CSD and Theme support" />
</a>
<figcaption>GTK Applications with CSDs and Theme Integration</figcaption>
<br />
<a href="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18/night-color-applet.png" data-toggle="lightbox">
<img src="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18/night-color-applet.png" class="border-0 img-fluid" width="350" height="153" alt="Night Color System Tray Widget" />
</a>
<figcaption>Night Color System Tray Widget</figcaption>
</figure>
<ul>
<h2 id="notifications">Notifications</h2>
<figure class="float-right text-right">
<a href="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18/draggable-download.png" data-toggle="lightbox">
<img src="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18/draggable-download-wee.png" class="border-0 img-fluid" width="350" height="144" alt="Draggable Download File Icon" />
</a>
<figcaption>Draggable Download File Icon</figcaption>
<br />
<a href="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18/bluetooth-battery.png" data-toggle="lightbox">
<img src="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18/bluetooth-battery-wee.png" class="border-0 img-fluid" width="350" height="172" alt="Low Bluetooth Battery" />
</a>
<figcaption>Bluetooth Device Battery Low Notification</figcaption>
<br />
</figure>
<h2 id="system-settings">System Settings</h2>
<figure class="float-right text-right">
<a href="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18/user-feedback.png" data-toggle="lightbox">
<img src="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18/user-feedback-wee.png" class="border-0 img-fluid" width="350" height="253" alt="User Feedback" />
</a>
<figcaption>User Feedback</figcaption>
<a href="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18/application-style.png" data-toggle="lightbox">
<img src="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18/application-style-wee.png" class="border-0 img-fluid" width="350" height="253" alt="Application Style" />
</a>
<figcaption>Application Style</figcaption>
</figure>
<ul>
<h2 id="discover">Discover</h2>
<figure class="float-right text-right">
<a href="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18/discover-comments.png" data-toggle="lightbox">
<img src="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18/discover-comments-wee.png" class="border-0 img-fluid" width="350" height="302" alt="Reading and Writing Review Comments" />
</a>
<figcaption>Reading and Writing Review Comments</figcaption>
</figure>
<ul>
<li>Discover's default keyboard focus has been switched to the search field</li>
<li>It's now possible to search for add-ons from the main page</li>
<li>Added nested comments for addons</li>
<li>Made design improvements to the sidebar header and reviews</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="more">More</h2>
<figure class="float-right text-right">
<a href="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18/nvidia.png" data-toggle="lightbox">
<img src="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18/nvidia-wee.png" class="border-0 img-fluid" width="350" height="289" alt="NVIDIA GPU stats" />
</a>
<figcaption>NVIDIA GPU stats</figcaption>
</figure>
<ul>
<h2 id="lts">New Since 5.12 LTS</h2>
<p>For those upgrading from our previous Long Term Support release here are some of the highlights from the last two years of development:</p>
<ul>
<a href="http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.17.5-5.17.90-changelog.php">Full Plasma 5.18 LTS Beta changelog</a>
<!-- // Boilerplate again -->
<section class="row get-it" id="download">
<article class="col-md">
<h2>Live Images</h2>
<p>
The easiest way to try it out is with a live image booted off a USB disk. Docker images also provide a quick and easy way to test Plasma. </p>
<a href='https://community.kde.org/Plasma/Live_Images' class="learn-more">Download live images with Plasma 5</a>
<a href='https://community.kde.org/Plasma/Docker_Images' class="learn-more">Download Docker images with Plasma 5</a>
</article>
<article class="col-md">
<h2>Package Downloads</h2>
<p>
Distributions have created, or are in the process of creating, packages listed on our wiki page. </p>
<a href='https://community.kde.org/Get_KDE_Software_on_Your_Linux_Distro' class="learn-more">Get KDE Software on Your Linux Distro wiki page</a>
</article>
<article class="col-md">
<h2>Source Downloads</h2>
<p>
You can install Plasma 5 directly from source. </p>
<a href='https://community.kde.org/Guidelines_and_HOWTOs/Build_from_source' class='learn-more'>Community instructions to compile it</a>
<a href='http://www.kde.org/info/plasma-5.15.90.php' class='learn-more'>Source Info Page</a>
</article>
</section>
<section class="give-feedback">
<h2>Feedback</h2>
<p class="kSocialLinks">
You can give us feedback and get updates on our social media channels: <a class="shareFacebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/kde/" rel="nofollow">Post on Facebook</a>
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