Manjaro 24.0 Wynsdey released
Since we released Vulcan in December 2023 we worked hard to get the next release of Manjaro out there. We call it Wynsdey. This is also our first release which comes with Plasma 6.
The GNOME edition has received several updates to Gnome 46 series. This includes a lot of fixes and polish when Gnome 46 originally was released in March 2024. You can find the changes made to each point-release here: 46.1 .
Highlights of 46 release series are:GNOME’s filemanager comes with a new global search feature in GNOME 46. Global search is a great way to jump directly into search, without having to think about where the items you want are located. The new feature also leverages GNOME’s existing file search capabilities, including the ability to search the contents of files, and filter by file type and modification date. Another great thing about global search is that it makes it possible to search multiple locations simultaneously, which can include locations that aren’t in your home directory. To set this up, go to the newly refined search locations settings, and add the locations that you want to be included.
GNOME’s remote desktop experience has been significantly enhanced for version 46, with the introduction of a new dedicated remote login option. This allows remotely connecting to a GNOME system which is not already in use. Connecting in this way means that the system’s display can be configured from the remote side, resulting in a better experience for the remote user.
The Settings app has been reorganized for GNOME 46, to make it easier to navigate. To this end, a new System section has been created, which contains preferences for Region & Language, Date & Time, Users, Remote Desktop, Secure Shell, and About. The Apps settings have also been consolidated, and now include the Default Apps and Removable Media settings.
GNOME 46 contains many small improvements and polish changes to the core GNOME experience. Many of GNOME’s core apps have also been upgraded. The improvements in GNOME 46 are not just skin deep, and the new version comes with deep technical enhancements which result in a more performant and refined experience.
The Plasma edition comes with the latest Plasma 6.0 series and KDE Gear 24.02 . It brings exciting new improvements to your desktop.
With Plasma 6, KDE’s technology stack has undergone major upgrades: a transition to the latest version of application framework, Qt, and an improved graphics platform when Wayland is used. These changes are as smooth and unnoticeable to the users as possible. You will see the same familiar desktop environment that you know and love. But these under-the-hood upgrades benefit Plasma’s security, efficiency, and performance, and improve support for modern hardware. Thus Plasma delivers an overall more reliable user experience, while paving the way for many more improvements in the future.
Plasma on Wayland now has partial support for High Dynamic Range (HDR). On supported monitors and software, this will provide you with richer and deeper colors for your games, videos, and visual creations. Don’t like floating panels? No worries. The redesigned panel settings make it easier to configure everything to your liking. Panels can now be configured with a new an intelligent auto-hide mode (“Dodge Windows”) that makes them hide when windows touch them. Changes to a few default settings will make Plasma easier to use. Plasma is still as configurable as ever, and you can change these settings back to how they were in Plasma 5 if you preferred them that way.
The improved Settings app, makes it more user-friendly and reduces the number of nested pages. On many settings pages, buttons have been relocated to the toolbar, enhancing consistency with our other applications and creating additional space for the actual content. You now have the option to customize your sound theme, and a new default sound theme named “Ocean” has been introduced to replace the “Oxygen” sound theme. Another addition is that you can now easily configure preferred applications for broad file types, such as all kinds of music and video files.
Two years ago, some major architectural improvements in KWin had forced KDE to temporarily remove the famous cube effect — but now it’s finally back! This effect is perfect to get a clear visualisation of the concept of what multiple desktops are all about… And also to show off to your friends and family how cool Plasma is.
Plasma Search lets you now convert between timezones. This is handy if you travel frequently or need to keep in touch with colleagues, friends, and family in other parts of the world. Check out more ways how KDE can help you during your travels. Due to some refactoring and profiling, Plasma Search is generally faster, and in particular searching for applications and settings pages is a lot faster while also using fewer CPU resources.
With our XFCE edition, we have now Xfce 4.18. Here some highlights: A new file highlighting feature (accessed from the file properties dialog) in Thunar file manager lets you set a custom colour background and a custom foreground text colour – an effective way to call attention to specific file(s) in a directory laden with similar-looking mime types. On the subject of finding files, Thunar includes recursive search.
The panel picks up a pair of new preferences. First, panel length is now configured in pixels rather than percentages, as before. Second, there’s a new “keep panel above windows” option. This allows maximised app windows to fill the area behind the panel rather than maximise its bottom or top edge to sit flush against it.
Control Centre groups all of the desktop’s various modules for managing the system into one easy-to-use window. New options are present in many of these. For example you can disable header bars in dialogs from the Appearance module; show or hide a ‘delete’ option in file context menus from Desktop; and pick a default multi-monitor behaviour before you attach an additional screen – dead handy, that.
Pamac got ported to libalpm 6.1 and supports now the native download agents of libalpm. This will improve download of build scripts from the Arch User Repository and our Manjaro binary repositories.
Kernel 6.9 is used for this release, such as the latest drivers available to date. With 6.6 LTS and 6.1 LTS we offer additional support for older hardware as needed.
We hope you enjoy this release and let us know what you think of Wynsdey.
Manjaro Linux 24.0 Wynsdey was released with Kernel 6.9. The GNOME Edition includes GNOME 46, which adds a new global search feature to its filemanager, allowing users to search many locations at once. The Plasma edition includes the latest Plasma 6.0 series and KDE Gear 24.02, which bring exciting new features to the desktop. The XFCE edition contains a new file highlighting function, the ability to configure panel length in pixels, and the option to keep the panel above the windows.
