KDE Plasma 6.4: New Features Arrive for Linux Desktop
The KDE Plasma desktop environment gets a significant upgrade with version 6.4. Packed with enhancements, this release focuses on improved tiling, refined dark mode options, and accessibility features. The update also features improvements to notifications, widgets, and the built-in Krunner tool.
Major Enhancements in Plasma 6.4
The most recent KDE Plasma 6.4 release brings several enhancements, including better handling of window tiling. Users will find refinements to the dark mode, tweaks to widgets and notifications, and improvements to search results provided by Krunner. The screenshot tool, Spectacle, has also been redesigned, making this a substantial update.
Version 6.4, which is a step forward for the desktop environment, comes just months after version 6.3 was released. Following the release schedule, Plasma 6.5 is set to arrive around October.
New Features and Changes
Plasma 6.4 includes new keyboard navigation tools, especially while using Wayland, such as the ability to control the mouse pointer with the keyboard. There is also support for multi-finger trackpad gestures for zooming. The desktop now has increased visual contrast and deeper tones in dark mode.
Notification handling has been improved, with an automated Do Not Disturb mode for full-screen applications and a history summary. If you mute the microphone, Plasma 6.4 will remind you when you attempt to use it. Many widgets and apps have been adjusted, like the app launcher and file progress dialogs.
The team has updated the management of graphics tablets and display color profiles, including for high dynamic range displays. According to Statista, as of 2024, Linux desktops run on around 3% of all desktops worldwide (Statista).
The Bigger Picture
KDE Plasma has full Wayland support, setting it apart from most other free and open-source software (FOSS) desktops. It also runs on both FreeBSD and OpenBSD.
Other FOSS desktop teams are working on Wayland support, with preliminary or experimental support in the latest versions of LXQt, Xfce, Cinnamon, and Budgie. Even if the recently announced Xlibre fork of the X.org X11 server succeeds, many older desktop environments may never make the leap.
While KDE Plasma relies on stacked overlapping windows, it also has built-in tiling support, similar to Microsoft Windows since Vista’s Aero Snap. With KWin, users can drag a window to any screen edge to tile it, and the tool can also resize other windows next to it.
Challenges and Future Outlook
Rolling-release distros will get Plasma 6.4 soon, but the upcoming Debian 13 will use Plasma 6.3.5. Plasma 6.5 is expected around the same time as Kubuntu 25.10 this fall.
The KDE Neon User Edition download page was not yet updated to the new Plasma release a day after its release. Upon installing, users must download and install almost 400 MB of updates to get Plasma 6.4.0. The testing edition had a late beta version and failed to install correctly. The X11 session was unusable in testing, and the Wayland session captured the mouse pointer.
With its recent updates and roadmap, KDE Plasma aims to remain a leading desktop environment for Linux, offering new features and improvements.
