Software:KDE Plasma 5

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Short description: Desktop environment
KDE Plasma 5
Plasma coloured logo.svg
KDE 5.png
The KDE Plasma 5 desktop
Developer(s)KDE
Initial release15 July 2014; 10 years ago (2014-07-15)[1]
Stable release5.24.3 (8 March 2022; 2 years ago (2022-03-08)) [±][2]
Preview release
n/a
Written inC++, QML
Operating systemUnix-like
PlatformFreeBSD and Linux
PredecessorKDE Plasma 4
TypeDesktop environment
LicenseGPL 2.0 or later[3]
Websitekde.org/plasma-desktop

KDE Plasma 5 is the fifth generation of the graphical workspaces environment created by KDE primarily for Linux systems. KDE Plasma 5 is the successor of KDE Plasma 4 and was first released on 15 July 2014.[1][4][5] The successor is KDE Plasma 6, with planned release date 28 February 2024.

Plasma 5 includes a new default theme, "Breeze", and increased convergence across different devices. The graphical interface was fully migrated to QML, which uses OpenGL for hardware acceleration, providing better performance and reduced power consumption.[1][4]

Plasma Mobile is a Plasma 5 variant for Linux-based smartphones.

Overview

KDE's mascot Konqi and Plasma desktop

Software architecture

KDE Plasma 5 is built using Qt 5 and KDE Frameworks 5,[6] predominantly plasma-framework.[7]

It improves support for HiDPI displays and ships a convergable graphical shell, which can adjust itself according to the device in use. 5.0 also includes a new default theme, dubbed Breeze. Qt 5's QtQuick 2 uses a hardware-accelerated OpenGL(ES) scene graph (canvas) to compose and render graphics on the screen, which allows for the offloading of computationally expensive graphics rendering tasks onto the GPU, freeing up resources on the system's main CPU.[1]

Windowing systems

KDE Plasma 5 running under Wayland

KDE Plasma 5 uses the X Window System and Wayland. Support for Wayland was prepared in the compositor and planned for a later release.[1] It was made initially available in the 5.4 release.[8] Stable support for a basic Wayland session was provided in the 5.5 release (December 2015).[9]

Support for NVIDIA proprietary driver for Plasma on Wayland was added in the 5.16 release (June 2019).[10]

Development

Since the split of the KDE Software Compilation into KDE Plasma, KDE Frameworks and KDE Applications, each subproject can develop at its own pace.[11] KDE Plasma 5 is on its own release schedule, with feature releases every four months, and bugfix releases in the intervening months.

Workspaces

The latest Plasma 5 features the following workspaces:

  • Plasma Desktop for any mouse or keyboard driven computing devices like desktops or laptops
  • Plasma Mobile for smartphones
  • Plasma Bigscreen for TVs and set-top boxes incl. voice interaction[12]
  • Plasma Nano, a minimal shell for embedded and touch-enabled devices,[13] like IoT or automotive

Desktop features

KDE Plasma with the Breeze Dark theme, with Konsole and Dolphin, core KDE applications
  • KRunner, a search feature with many available plugins. In addition to launching apps, it can find files and folders, open websites, convert from one currency or unit to another, calculate simple mathematical expressions, and perform numerous other useful tasks.[14]
  • Flexible desktop and panel layouts composed of individual Widgets (also known as "Plasmoids") which can be individually configured, moved around, replaced with alternatives, or deleted. Each screen's layout can be individually configured. New widgets created by others can be downloaded within Plasma.
  • Powerful clipboard with a memory of previously-copied pieces of text that can be called up at will.
  • Systemwide notification system supporting quick reply and drag-and-drop straight from notifications, history view, and a Do Not Disturb mode.
  • Central location to control playback of media in open apps, the phone (with KDE Connect installed), or the web browser (with Plasma Browser Integration installed)
  • Activities, which allow users to separate methods of using the system into distinct workspaces. Each activity can have its own set of favorite and recently used applications, wallpapers, "virtual desktops", panels, window styles, and layout configurations. It also couples with ksmserver (X Session Manager implementation) which keeps track of apps that can be run or shutdown along with given activity via subSessions functionality that keep track of state of applications (not all applications support this feature as they do not implement XSMP protocol).[15]
  • Encrypted vaults for storing sensitive data.
  • Night Color, which can automatically warm the screen colors at night, or user-specified times, or manually.
  • Styling for icons, cursors, application colors, user interface elements, splash screens and more can be changed, with new styles created by others being downloadable from within the System Settings application. Global Themes allow the entire look-and-feel of the system to be changed in one click.
  • Session Management allows apps which were running when the system shut down to be automatically restarted in the same state they were in before.

History

The first Technology Preview of Plasma 5 (at that time called Plasma 2) was released on 13 December 2013.[16] On 15 July 2014, the first release version – Plasma 5.0 – was released.[1] In spring 2015, Plasma 5 replaced Plasma 4 in many popular distributions, such as Fedora 22,[17] Kubuntu 15.04,[18] and openSUSE Tumbleweed.[19]

Releases

Feature releases are released every four months (up to 5.8 every three months) and bugfix releases in the intervening months.[11] Following version 5.8 LTS KDE plans to support each new LTS version for 18 months with bug fixes, while new regular releases will see feature improvements.[20]

Plasma 5 releases
Version Date Key features
5.0[1] 2014 First release.
5.1[21] 2014 Ported missing features from Plasma 4.[21]
5.2[22] 2015 New components:
  • BlueDevil – integrates Bluetooth technology within Plasma and KDE Applications
  • KSSHAskPass – front-end for ssh-add which stores the password of the ssh key in KWallet
  • Muon – a collection of package management tools for Debian-based systems, using the apt-xapian index and the Synaptic search algorithm
  • sddm-kcm – config module for SDDM themes
  • KScreen – screen management software[23] Hooks into KDE System Settings, makes use of KDE Daemon and KGlobalAccel
  • kde-gtk-config – GTK 2 and 3 style configurator
  • KDecoration – a plugin-based library to create window decorations. These window decorations can be used by window manager which re-parents a client window to a window decoration frame.
5.3[24] 2015 Tech preview of Plasma Media Center. New Bluetooth and touchpad applets. Enhanced power management.[24]
5.4[25] 2015 Initial Wayland session.[8] New QML-based audio volume applet. Alternative full-screen application launcher.[26]
5.5[27] 2015 Improved Wayland support.[28][29]
5.6[30] 2016 Increased security.[31]
5.7[32] 2016 "basic workflows now fully functional" in the Plasma Wayland session. Automatic virtual keyboard.[32]
5.8 LTS[33] 2016 Long Term Support version.[34][35]
5.9[36] 2017 Wayland improvements.[37] Global menu support.[38]
5.10[39] 2017 Performance improvements.[40]
5.11[41] 2017 System Settings redesign.[41] Notification history.[41] Added Plasma Vaults.[42] Wayland improvements.[43]
5.12 LTS[44] 2018 Increased stability and speed. Wayland improvements.[44]
5.13[45] 2018 Integration with non-KDE web browsers. New lock and login screen designs. Improved Discover appearance. New screen layout selection dialog upon connection of a new screen.[46]
5.14[47] 2018 GTK global menu integration. Wayland improvements.[47]
5.15[48] 2019 Support for virtual desktops, touch drag-and-drop, and the XdgStable, XdgPopups and XdgDecoration protocols in the Plasma Wayland session.[48]
5.16[10] 2019 Revamped notification system with Do Not Disturb feature, grouping in history, critical notifications in fullscreen apps, and better file transfer progress notifications. Support for the NVIDIA proprietary driver on Wayland. Full support for WireGuard VPNs. Full touchpad configurability on X11 with Libinput driver. Modernized login, lock, and logout screen designs. UI improvements throughout Plasma and Discover[10]
5.17[49] 2019 Night Color available for X11. Plasma now recognizes when a program is running in full-screen mode and prevents pop-ups. Fractional scaling support in the Plasma Wayland session.[49]
5.18 LTS[50] 2020 Easier system settings. Interactive notifications. New Emoji picker. New wallpapers. Improved GTK app integration.[50]
5.19[51] 2020 New system monitoring widgets. New Info Center app. Improved System Tray visuals and interaction. Timezones visible in clock pop-up. Inline reply function for notifications from supported apps. Global animation speed setting.[51]
5.20[52] 2020 S.M.A.R.T. disk monitoring. "Highlight changed settings" feature in System Settings. Digital clock applet shows date by default. Redesigned status OSDs. More options and improvements for switching between grouped Task Manager tasks. Window corner-tiling shortcuts. Adjustable per-channel audio balance. Middle-click on notifications icon to enter Do Not Disturb mode. Support for screencasting, shared clipboard, middle-click paste, window thumbnails, and adjusting the scrolling speed in the Plasma Wayland session.[52]
5.21[53] 2021 New application launcher. Applications theme improvements (unified headerbar). Breeze Twilight, a new variant of Breeze with a mix of dark and light colors. New Plasma System Monitor app. New Plasma Firewall settings page and improvements to System Settings. Media Player applet's includes the list of applications currently playing music in the header as a tab bar. Support for virtual keyboards in GTK applications in the Plasma Wayland session.[53]
5.22[54] 2021 Adaptive Transparency for panels. Many style improvements and bug fixes for widgets and KRunner. Stability improvements for the Plasma Wayland session.[54]
5.23[55] 2021 Switch between different performance/power saving modes (on supported hardware). Overhauled visual style for the Breeze theme. Customizable accent color. Bluetooth enablement status configurable and remembered across reboots by default. Easier to search for settings in System Settings. Application launch feedback animations and stability improvements for the Plasma Wayland session.[55]
5.24 LTS[56] 2022 New Overview manager to more easily switch between desktops. Visual refresh for the Breeze theme. Color picker for accent colors. Accent for critical notifications. System tray widget enhancements. Speed and productivity enhancements to Discover. Help integration into KRunner. Fingerprint authentication support. Additional support for colors, VR, and drawing tables in Plasma Wayland.[56]
5.25[57] 2022 Overview manager displays all open windows and virtual desktops. Trackpad gesture support. Sync accent color to the wallpaper. New touch mode with resized elements. New customization options. Reworked Discover application page. Greater global theme options.[57]
5.26[58] 2022 Resizable panel widgets. New timer widget. New Aura browser and Plank media player for Plasma Big Screen. Enhancements to Night Color. Sharper scaled text on XWayland applications. Wallpaper changes alongside dark mode. Dismiss notifications with middle click.[58]
5.27 LTS[59] 2023 Welcome wizard, window tiling system, a more stylish app theme, cleaner and more usable tools, the ability to control Flatpak permissions in Discover (similar to Flatseal), additional widgets for users to control their machine.
{{{2}}}

KDE Plasma 6

The final release of the next generation of KDE Plasma, based on Qt6, is planned for 28 February 2024. The alpha version of Plasma 6 was released as planned on 8 November 2023.[60][61]

See also

Gallery

  • Default lock screen of Plasma 5

  • Plasma 5 showing KRunner and display management

  • Power management and keyboard brightness OSD

  • Shutdown screen of Plasma 5

  • Login screen of Plasma 5

  • Plasma System Settings

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "KDE Plasma 5.0 Released". KDE. 2014-07-15. http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma5.0/. 
  2. ↑ "KDE Plasma 5.24.3". KDE.org. https://kde.org/announcements/plasma/5/5.24.3/. 
  3. ↑ "COPYING of Plasma Workspace" (in en). https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-workspace/-/blob/master/COPYING. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Sneddon, Joey-Elijah (July 15, 2014). "KDE Plasma 5 Arrives with Fresh New Look, True Convergence". OMG! Ubuntu!. https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2014/07/kde-plasma-5-released. 
  5. ↑ Gilbertson, Scott (August 18, 2014). "KDE Plasma 5—For those Linux users undecided on the kernel's future". Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/08/kde-plasma-5-for-those-linux-users-undecided-on-the-kernels-future/. 
  6. ↑ Jos Poortvliet (2013-12-17). "Qt 5.2 - Foundation for KDE Frameworks 5". Dot.kde.org. https://dot.kde.org/2013/12/17/qt-52-foundation-kde-frameworks-5. 
  7. ↑ "plasma-framework readme". https://quickgit.kde.org/?p=plasma-framework.git&a=blob&h=218bdc6d9d881b654b3167eb905472e25b1ab0fc&hb=44acd8c80204bca65be7794c2614d61bc28a6503&f=README.md. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Grässlin, Martin (2015-06-29). "Four years later". http://blog.martin-graesslin.com/blog/2015/06/four-years-later/. 
  9. ↑ Riddell, Jonathan (2015-12-08). "Plasma 5.5 With Beautiful New Artwork". KDE.news. https://dot.kde.org/2015/12/08/plasma-55-beautiful-new-artwork. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "Plasma 5.16 Release Announcement". KDE. 16 May 2019. https://kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.15.90.php. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Release schedule for Plasma 5". KDE. https://community.kde.org/Schedules/Plasma_5. 
  12. ↑ "Plasma / Plasma Bigscreen". https://invent.kde.org/kde/plasma-bigscreen/. 
  13. ↑ "Plasma / Plasma Nano · GitLab". https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-nano. 
  14. ↑ "How to Use KDE Plasma Desktop Like a Pro". Linux.com. 2015-02-22. https://www.linux.com/learn/how-use-kde-plasma-desktop-pro. 
  15. ↑ "Changes to KSMServer – David Edmundson's Web Log" (in en-US). 28 November 2018. https://blog.davidedmundson.co.uk/blog/changes-to-ksmserver/. 
  16. ↑ "Plasma 2 Technology Preview". KDE.news. 20 December 2013. https://dot.kde.org/2013/12/20/plasma-2-technology-preview. 
  17. ↑ "Fedora 22 KDE Delivers A Great Plasma 5 Experience". Phoronix. https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=fedora-22-kde&num=1. 
  18. ↑ "Kubuntu 15.04 Release Announcement". 2015-04-22. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/kubuntu-15.04. 
  19. ↑ Nestor, Marius (2015-05-16). "openSUSE Tumbleweed Now Uses KDE Plasma 5.3 as Default Desktop". https://news.softpedia.com/news/openSUSE-Tumbleweed-Now-Uses-KDE-Plasma-5-3-as-Default-Desktop-481392.shtml. 
  20. ↑ Bhartiya, Swapnil. "KDE celebrates 20th birthday and goes LTS". https://www.cio.com/article/236321/kde-celebrates-20th-birthday-and-goes-lts.html. 
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "KDE - Plasma 5.1 Brings Back Many Popular Features". kde.org. 15 October 2014. https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.1/. 
  22. ↑ "KDE - KDE Ships Plasma 5.2". kde.org. 27 January 2015. https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.2.0.php. 
  23. ↑ online, heise (24 June 2013). "Kscreen 1.0 soll Monitorkonfiguration von KDE verbessern". https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Kscreen-1-0-soll-Monitorkonfiguration-von-KDE-verbessern-1895560.html. 
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 "KDE Ships Plasma 5.3, New Feature Release". KDE. 2015-04-28. https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.3.0.php. 
  25. ↑ "KDE Ships Plasma 5.4.0, Feature Release for August". KDE. 25 August 2015. https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.4.0.php. 
  26. ↑ "KDE Ships Plasma 5.4 Beta Release". KDE. 2015-08-11. https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.3.95.php. 
  27. ↑ "KDE Ships Plasma 5.5 Release". KDE. 8 December 2015. https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.5.0.php. 
  28. ↑ "September update for Plasma's Wayland porting". Martin's Blog. 8 October 2015. http://blog.martin-graesslin.com/blog/2015/10/september-update-for-plasmas-wayland-porting/. 
  29. ↑ "KWin On Wayland Making Progress, Now Has A Virtual Backend". Phoronix. https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=KWin-September-Wayland. 
  30. ↑ "KDE Plasma 5.6 Release". KDE. 22 March 2016. https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.6.0.php. 
  31. ↑ Nestor, Marius (24 November 2015). "KDE Developers Work on Improving the Security of KDE Plasma 5 on Wayland". Softpedia. https://news.softpedia.com/news/kde-developers-work-on-improving-the-security-of-kde-plasma-5-on-wayland-496612.shtml. 
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 "KDE - KDE Plasma 5.7 Release". 5 July 2016. https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.7.0.php. 
  33. ↑ "KDE at 20: Plasma 5.8 LTS. Here for the Long Term.". KDE. 4 October 2016. https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.8.0.php. 
  34. ↑ Jonathan Riddell (8 July 2016). "Plasma 5.8 LTS Kickerd Off for Stability and Performance". http://jriddell.org/2016/07/08/plasma-5-8-lts-kickerd-off-for-stability-and-performance/. 
  35. ↑ "Plasma 5.8 will be an LTS release". 8 July 2016. https://www.reddit.com/r/kde/comments/4rs91d/plasma_58_will_be_an_lts_release/. 
  36. ↑ "Plasma 5.9 Kicks off 2017 in Style.". KDE. 31 January 2017. https://kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.9.0.php. 
  37. ↑ Martin Grässlin (2016-10-19). "Wayland improvements since Plasma 5.8 release". https://blog.martin-graesslin.com/blog/2016/10/wayland-improvements-since-plasma-5-8-release/. 
  38. ↑ "KDE Ships Plasma 5.9". 2017-01-31. https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.9.0.php. 
  39. ↑ "Plasma 5.10". KDE. 30 May 2017. https://kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.10.0.php. 
  40. ↑ "Plasma 5.10: Spring-loading in Folder View; performance work | blogs.kde.org". https://blogs.kde.org/2017/01/31/plasma-510-spring-loading-folder-view-performance-work. 
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 41.2 "Plasma 5.11". KDE. 10 October 2017. https://kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.11.0.php. 
  42. ↑ "Plasma 5.11 – Keep the momentum going". OCS-Mag. 2017-10-18. http://www.ocsmag.com/2017/10/18/plasma-5-11-keep-the-momentum-going/. 
  43. ↑ "KDE Plasma 5.11 Officially Released With Vault, Better Wayland & More - Phoronix". https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=KDE-Plasma-5.11. 
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 "Plasma 5.12 Release Announcement". KDE. 6 February 2018. https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.12.0.php. 
  45. ↑ "Plasma 5.13 Release Announcement". KDE. 12 June 2018. https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.13.0.php. 
  46. ↑ "KDE Plasma 5.13 Beta: Fast, Lightweight, and Full Featured.". 2018-05-17. https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.12.90.php. 
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 "Plasma 5.14 Release Announcement". KDE. 9 October 2018. https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.14.0.php. 
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 "Plasma 5.15 Release Announcement". KDE. 12 February 2019. https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.15.0.php. 
  49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 "KDE Plasma 5.17: Thunderbolt, X11 Night Color and Redesigned Settings". KDE.org. 15 October 2019. https://kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.17.0.php. 
  50. ↑ 50.0 50.1 "KDE Plasma 5.18: More Convenient and with Long Term Stability". KDE. 11 February 2020. https://kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18.0.php. 
  51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 "Plasma 5.19". KDE. 9 June 2020. https://kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.19.0. 
  52. ↑ 52.0 52.1 "Plasma 5.20". KDE. 13 October 2020. https://kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.20.0. 
  53. ↑ 53.0 53.1 "Plasma 5.21". KDE. 16 February 2021. https://kde.org/announcements/plasma/5/5.21.0/. 
  54. ↑ 54.0 54.1 "Plasma 5.22". KDE. 8 June 2021. https://kde.org/announcements/plasma/5/5.22.0/. 
  55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 "Plasma - 25th Anniversary Edition". KDE. 14 October 2021. https://kde.org/announcements/plasma/5/5.23.0/. 
  56. ↑ 56.0 56.1 "Plasma 5.24". KDE. 8 February 2022. https://kde.org/announcements/plasma/5/5.24.0/. 
  57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 "Plasma 5.25". KDE. 14 June 2022. https://kde.org/announcements/plasma/5/5.25.0/. 
  58. ↑ 58.0 58.1 "Plasma 5.26". KDE. 11 October 2022. https://kde.org/ia/announcements/plasma/5/5.26.0/. 
  59. ↑ "Plasma 5.27". KDE. 14 February 2023. https://kde.org/announcements/plasma/5/5.27.0/. 
  60. ↑ "This week in KDE: Plasma 6 Alpha approaches". 4 November 2023. https://pointieststick.com/2023/11/03/this-week-in-kde-plasma-6-alpha-approaches. 
  61. ↑ "KDE Plasma 6 gets a first Alpha release". 8 November 2023. https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/11/kde-plasma-6-gets-a-first-alpha-release. 

External links



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