This Week in KDE Plasma: What's New in UI, Performance, and Bug Fixes?

Tirsasaki
Tirsasaki
22 Februari 2025

The KDE Plasma team continues its commitment to refining and enhancing the user experience with the latest weekly update. This week's developments include numerous bug fixes, UI improvements, and performance optimizations across various Plasma versions, ensuring a smoother and more efficient desktop environment for users.

🎨 UI Improvements in Plasma 6.3 and 6.4

KDE Plasma 6.3 and the upcoming 6.4 version introduce several UI enhancements:

  • The Weather Widget now provides clearer search results when using the BBC Weather service, reducing unnecessary visual clutter.
  • The Night Light feature now maintains a consistent appearance across Wayland and X11.
  • The Digital Clock widget menu has been streamlined, removing unused options for a cleaner interface.
  • System Settings’ General Behavior page now features more intuitive descriptions.
  • Improved accessibility in the Widget Explorer sidebar ensures better navigation.

🐞 Major Bug Fixes Across Versions

The KDE team has addressed numerous bugs that enhance system stability:

  • Resolved an issue where KWin on GCC 15 could cause a black screen upon login when using an ICC profile.
  • Fixed crashes occurring in the Kickoff Application Launcher when accessing file properties in the Recently Used section.
  • Restored functionality to the Meta+V clipboard popup, which previously lost visual highlights when using keyboard navigation.
  • Addressed a bug preventing the volume change OSD from appearing when adjusting volume via Bluetooth headsets.
  • Fixed a regression affecting the automatic tablet mode feature, which was inadvertently disabled on specific devices.
  • Corrected issues causing desktop and panel disappearance when applying a new global theme.
  • Enhanced the Task Manager Widget to allow smoother tooltip navigation in right-to-left languages like Arabic and Hebrew.

For the full list of bug fixes, visit the KDE bug tracking system: KDE Bug Tracker.

⚡ Performance and Technical Enhancements

Performance optimization remains a key focus for KDE Plasma. Notable improvements include:

  • KWin’s render loop initialization now utilizes a more precise timer, reducing frame drops and enhancing graphical performance.
  • The kded6 daemon now restarts automatically upon crashing, improving system reliability.

🤝 How You Can Contribute to KDE

KDE is a community-driven project, and user contributions are crucial in keeping it strong and innovative. Here’s how you can help:

  • 🐞 Report and confirm bug reports to help developers pinpoint issues faster.
  • 🎨 Create and contribute to wallpapers, icons, and app interface designs.
  • 🌍 Translate KDE software into your native language.
  • 📣 Promote KDE within your local community.
  • 💖 Consider donating to support KDE’s ongoing development: Donate to KDE.

By getting involved, you can be part of an open-source movement that continues to shape the future of free software.

📢 Stay tuned for more updates next week!

References: