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KDE Plasma 5.16: Now Smoother and More Fun

Image of Plasma 5.16

KDE Plasma 5.16

Tuesday, 11 June 2019

Today KDE launches the latest version of its desktop environment, Plasma 5.16.

For this release, KDE developers have worked hard to polish Plasma to a high gloss. The results of their efforts provide a more consistent experience and bring new features to all Plasma users.

One of the most obvious changes is the completely rewritten notification system that comes with a Do Not Disturb mode, a more intelligent history which groups notifications together, and critical notifications in fullscreen apps. Besides many other things, it features better notifications for file transfer jobs, and a much more usable System Settings page to configure all notification-related things.

The system and widget settings have been refined and improved by porting code to newer Kirigami and Qt technologies, while at the same time polishing the user interface. The Visual Design Group and the Plasma team continue their efforts towards the usability and productivity goal, getting feedback and removing all the papercuts in our software so that you find Plasma smoother, as well as more intuitive and consistent to use.

For the first time, the default wallpaper of Plasma 5.16 has been decided by a contest where everyone could participate and submit their original art. The winning wallpaper - the work of a talented Argentinian artist - is as sleek and cool as Plasma itself, and will keep your desktop looking fresh during the summer.

We hope you enjoy using Plasma 5.16 as much as we did making it.

Desktop Management

New notifications

New Notifications

Theme Engine Fixes for Clock Hands!

Theme Engine Fixes for Clock Hands!

Login Screen Theme Improved

Login Screen Theme Improved

SDDM Theme Improved

SDDM Theme Improved

Wallpaper Slideshow settings window

Wallpaper Slideshow settings window

Panel Edition Offers Alternatives

Panel Editing Offers Alternatives

Settings

Application Style and Appearance Settings

Application Style and Appearance Settings

Color Scheme

Color Scheme

Window Management

Lock screen in Plasma 5.16

Window Management

Plasma Network Manager

Discover

Updates in Discover

Updates in Discover

View full changelog

Package Downloads

Distributions have created, or are in the process of creating, packages listed on our wiki page.

Note that packages of this release might not be available on all distributions at the time of this announcement.

Package download wiki page

Supporting KDE

KDE is a Free Software community that exists and grows only because of the help of many volunteers that donate their time and effort. KDE is always looking for new volunteers and contributions, whether it is help with coding, bug fixing or reporting, writing documentation, translations, promotion, money, etc. All contributions are gratefully appreciated and eagerly accepted. Please read through the Supporting KDE page for further information or become a KDE e.V. supporting member through our Join the Game initiative.

About KDE

KDE is an international technology team that creates free and open source software for desktop and portable computing. Among KDE's products are a modern desktop system for Linux and UNIX platforms, comprehensive office productivity and groupware suites and hundreds of software titles in many categories including Internet and web applications, multimedia, entertainment, educational, graphics and software development. KDE software is translated into more than 60 languages and is built with ease of use and modern accessibility principles in mind. KDE's full-featured applications run natively on Linux, BSD, Windows, Haiku, and macOS.


Trademark Notices.

KDE® and the K Desktop Environment® logo are registered trademarks of KDE e.V..
Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United States and other countries.
All other trademarks and copyrights referred to in this announcement are the property of their respective owners.


Press Contacts

For more information send us an email: press@kde.org