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KDE Plasma 5.13 Released (kde.org)

Posted by BeauHD on from the new-and-improved dept.

jrepin writes: KDE unveils the final release of Plasma 5.13, the free and open-source desktop environment. Members of the Plasma team have focused on optimizing startup and minimizing memory usage. Plasma Browser Integration is a suite of new features which make Firefox, Chrome and Chromium-based browsers work with your desktop. For example, downloads are now displayed in the Plasma notification popup, and the Media Controls Plasmoid can mute and skip videos and music playing from within the browser. Browser tabs can be opened directly using KRunner via the Alt-Space keyboard shortcut. System Settings design has been improved further. Window manager gained much-improved effects for blur and desktop switching. Wayland work continued, with the return of window rules, and initial support for screencasts and desktop sharing. You can view the changelog here.

14 of 96 comments (clear)

  1. Pretty cool by 110010001000 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This is pretty cool. One of the biggest features of a desktop is browser integration.

    1. Re:Pretty cool by Ecuador · · Score: 3, Funny

      Well, Microsoft was the pioneer. I remember how they explained that IE was so integrated into Windows that they could not remove it. Decades ahead of the competition...

      --
      Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
    2. Re:Pretty cool by Ecuador · · Score: 2

      Oh, come on, active desktop was a pretty mature product coming from the people who developed Bob!

      --
      Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
    3. Re:Pretty cool by ArchieBunker · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Don't worry, Poettering will include some alpha build code in the next systemd release.

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
  2. Fixed Akonadi yet? by Tough+Love · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Fixed Akonadi yet? I would say, get rid of the MySQL dependency for a start, or can you not spell ACID? If that is too hard, then just kill Akonadi.

    --
    When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    1. Re:Fixed Akonadi yet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I too suffered under broken resource-hogging Akonadi for a long time under Debian.

      Then i switched to Arch and Akonadi flies completely under the radar, unless you check for it you would never know it was there.

      SO many distros are Debian-based, I think they all inherit the bad KDE builds that Debian makes.

  3. window tabs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'll stick with KDE4 still.

    "KWin does not provide window tabs" -- https://community.kde.org/Plasma/5.13_Errata

    1. Re: window tabs by MachineShedFred · · Score: 2

      Ohh, you're talking about virtual desktops. Carry on...

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      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
  4. Re:KDE still around by BlazeMiskulin · · Score: 4, Informative

    Yes. KDE is "still around".

    A quick google of "best linux desktop environments" results in...

    • Lifewire: KDE Plasma is #4
    • Tecmint: KDE Plasma is #2
    • ItsFoss: KDE Plasma is #1
    • FossBytes: KDE Plasma is #1

    It might not be the best for you, but it's still one of the top DEs.

  5. NOT KDE 5! by NicknameUnavailable · · Score: 4, Informative

    Don't let the devs year you call it KDE 5 - they are quite adamant that there is no such thing. It's "KDE Plasma" and they will deny the existence of KDE 5 for hours before revealing that fact if you ask them about it in a support channel. Just a cautionary note for KDE users - DO NOT use the term "KDE 5" if you ask for help from the KDE support people, you'll never remember what your original issue was until the discussion ends.

  6. And there was much rejoicing by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Or not. One can't help but feeling that the Linux flagship desktop offerings (Gnome and KDE) are more and more irrelevant with every passing year. Linux keeps spinning its wheels in the desktop, and the prospects are that this will remain true for the foreseeable future. I wouldn't be surprised those two offerings - big, ponderous, resource-hungry, my-way-or-the-highway (especially Gnome) - are contributing decisively to keep things the way they are as far as Linux's share of the desktop market is concerned. Well, at least, under Linux, there (still) are alternatives.

    1. Re:And there was much rejoicing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Plasma isn't much heavier than Xfce actually, and is far more modern. I alternate between them both, and as of 5.10 noticed I was spending more time in Plasma than anything else. When .13 hits the Void repos, with its support for global menu from all kinds of applications, I may switch to it permanently. There's a few small things that still bug me about it, but KDE has finally gotten close to where it was in the 3.5.10 days again.

    2. Re:And there was much rejoicing by matt.mccann.8 · · Score: 4, Informative

      I used to use Gnome and some of what you say is true, especially the resource demand of Gnome. More recently I've been using KDE on openSUSE Tumbleweed and it's been awesome. They have really smoothed over many of the roughest edges and tuned it up to be very light on resources. It offers compelling features such as KDE Connect to link up with your mobile Android phone and is very slick in that regard. And KDE is definitely nowhere near my-way-or-the-highway territory. It is extremely customizable and has become more intuitive in how to do so in the 5.xx series. Finally, I'd say that the desktop in general is a shifting paradigm, but still an important component. I think they are as relevant as any other desktop setup in their respective ecosystems. With containerization and things like Snaps and Flatpaks becoming a simpler way to distribute apps on Linux, the desktop has many compelling things to offer a user.

  7. Re:Citation please? by matt.mccann.8 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Here's my two cents annecdote. I'm currently running Plasma 5.12 on openSUSE Tumbleweed. I have a computer for my wife that runs Ubuntu Mate. KDE feels right in line with the speed of Mate. That was not the case in the 4.xx series or early 5.xx series, but since around Plasma 5.8 it has been exceedingly smooth. Now are XFCE/Mate type desktops perhaps a little lighter? Maybe. But I'd think you would be pleasantly surprised by the speed of KDE these days. But if XFCE is your style then no reason to switch.