KDE Plasma 5 explained

KDE Plasma 5
Developer:KDE
Released:[1]
Programming Language:C++, QML
Operating System:Unix-like
Platform:FreeBSD and Linux
Genre:Desktop environment
License:GPL 2.0 or later[2]
Replaces:KDE Plasma 4
Replaced By:KDE Plasma 6

KDE Plasma 5 is the fifth generation of the KDE Plasma 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.[3] [4] It was succeeded by KDE Plasma 6 on 28 February 2024.[5]

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.

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

Overview

Software architecture

KDE Plasma 5 is built using Qt 5 and KDE Frameworks 5.[6] [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.

Windowing systems

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

Support for NVIDIA proprietary driver for Plasma on Wayland was added in the 5.16 release (June 2019).[9]

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. 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:

Desktop features

History

The first Technology Preview of Plasma 5 (at that time called Plasma 2) was released on 13 December 2013.[14] 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,[15] Kubuntu 15.04,[16] and openSUSE Tumbleweed.[17]

Releases

Feature releases are released every four months (up to 5.8 every three months) and bugfix releases in the intervening months.[18] 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.[19]

Plasma 5 releases
VersionDateKey features
First release.
[20] Ported missing features from Plasma 4.
[21] 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[22] 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.
[23] Tech preview of Plasma Media Center. New Bluetooth and touchpad applets. Enhanced power management.
[24] Initial Wayland session.[25] New QML-based audio volume applet. Alternative full-screen application launcher.[26]
[27] Improved Wayland support.[28] [29]
[30] Increased security.[31]
[32] "basic workflows now fully functional" in the Plasma Wayland session. Automatic virtual keyboard.
[33] Long Term Support version.[34] [35]
[36] Wayland improvements.[37] Global menu support.[38]
[39] Performance improvements.[40]
[41] System Settings redesign. Notification history. Added Plasma Vaults.[42] Wayland improvements.[43]
[44] Increased stability and speed. Wayland improvements.
[45] 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]
[47] GTK global menu integration. Wayland improvements.
[48] Support for virtual desktops, touch drag-and-drop, and the XdgStable, XdgPopups and XdgDecoration protocols in the Plasma Wayland session.
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
[49] 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.
[50] Easier system settings. Interactive notifications. New Emoji picker. New wallpapers. Improved GTK app integration.
[51] 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.
[52] 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.
[53] 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.
[54] Adaptive Transparency for panels. Many style improvements and bug fixes for widgets and KRunner. Stability improvements for the Plasma Wayland session.
[55] 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.
[56] 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.
[57] 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
[58] 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.
[59] 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

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: KDE Plasma 5.0 Released . KDE . 2014-07-15 . 2014-08-19 . 2015-09-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150924161821/https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma5.0/ . live .
  2. Web site: COPYING of Plasma Workspace . KDE Invent . en . 2021-03-14 . 2021-05-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210504172438/https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-workspace/-/blob/master/COPYING . live .
  3. Web site: KDE Plasma 5 Arrives with Fresh New Look, True Convergence. Sneddon. Joey-Elijah. July 15, 2014. OMG! Ubuntu!. June 14, 2019. April 8, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190408141154/https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2014/07/kde-plasma-5-released. live.
  4. Web site: KDE Plasma 5—For those Linux users undecided on the kernel's future. Gilbertson. Scott. August 18, 2014. Ars Technica. June 14, 2019. April 12, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190412024658/https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/08/kde-plasma-5-for-those-linux-users-undecided-on-the-kernels-future/. live.
  5. Web site: 2024-02-28 . KDE MegaRelease 6 . 2024-02-28 . KDE Community . en.
  6. Web site: Qt 5.2 - Foundation for KDE Frameworks 5. Dot.kde.org. Jos Poortvliet. 2013-12-17. 2014-03-10. 2020-11-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20201111211242/https://dot.kde.org/2013/12/17/qt-52-foundation-kde-frameworks-5. live.
  7. Web site: plasma-framework readme . 2016-10-08 . 2019-12-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191216124613/https://cgit.kde.org/ . dead .
  8. Web site: Plasma 5.5 With Beautiful New Artwork. Riddell. Jonathan. 2015-12-08. KDE.news. 2019-04-28. 2019-04-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20190408141251/https://dot.kde.org/2015/12/08/plasma-55-beautiful-new-artwork. live.
  9. Web site: Plasma 5.16 Release Announcement. 16 May 2019. KDE. 26 May 2019. 21 May 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190521182654/https://kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.15.90.php. live.
  10. Web site: Plasma / Plasma Bigscreen. 2021-08-08. 2020-05-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20200506010142/https://invent.kde.org/kde/plasma-bigscreen. live.
  11. Web site: Plasma / Plasma Nano · GitLab. GitLab. 2022-09-12. 2022-07-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20220705004812/https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-nano. live.
  12. Web site: How to Use KDE Plasma Desktop Like a Pro. Linux.com. 2017-12-22. 2015-02-22. 2019-08-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20190809141120/https://www.linux.com/learn/how-use-kde-plasma-desktop-pro. live.
  13. Web site: Changes to KSMServer – David Edmundson's Web Log. 28 November 2018 . 2021-09-30. en-US. 2021-09-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20210930213934/https://blog.davidedmundson.co.uk/blog/changes-to-ksmserver/. live.
  14. Web site: Plasma 2 Technology Preview. KDE.news. 20 December 2013. 23 August 2015. 12 September 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150912163208/https://dot.kde.org/2013/12/20/plasma-2-technology-preview. live.
  15. Web site: Fedora 22 KDE Delivers A Great Plasma 5 Experience. Phoronix. 23 August 2015. 6 September 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150906132734/http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=fedora-22-kde&num=1. live.
  16. Web site: Kubuntu 15.04 Release Announcement. 2015-04-22. 2015-07-21. 2019-04-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20190408141152/https://kubuntu.org/news/kubuntu-15.04. live.
  17. Web site: openSUSE Tumbleweed Now Uses KDE Plasma 5.3 as Default Desktop. Nestor. Marius. 2015-05-16. Softpedia. 2019-04-28. 2019-04-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20190408141153/https://news.softpedia.com/news/openSUSE-Tumbleweed-Now-Uses-KDE-Plasma-5-3-as-Default-Desktop-481392.shtml. live.
  18. Web site: Release schedule for Plasma 5. KDE. 2016-03-31. 2019-04-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20190402073643/https://community.kde.org/Schedules/Plasma_5. live.
  19. Web site: KDE celebrates 20th birthday and goes LTS. Bhartiya. Swapnil. CIO. 9 April 2022. 9 April 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220409232820/https://www.cio.com/article/236321/kde-celebrates-20th-birthday-and-goes-lts.html. live.
  20. Web site: KDE - Plasma 5.1 Brings Back Many Popular Features. kde.org. 15 October 2014. 23 August 2015. 17 October 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141017092232/https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.1/. live.
  21. Web site: KDE - KDE Ships Plasma 5.2. kde.org. 27 January 2015. 23 August 2015. 1 February 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150201112617/https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.2.0.php. live.
  22. Web site: Kscreen 1.0 soll Monitorkonfiguration von KDE verbessern. heise. online. heise online. 24 June 2013 . 2022-09-12. 2021-06-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20210609220845/https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Kscreen-1-0-soll-Monitorkonfiguration-von-KDE-verbessern-1895560.html. live.
  23. Web site: KDE Ships Plasma 5.3, New Feature Release. KDE. 2015-04-28. 2015-05-04. 2015-05-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20150518100254/https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.3.0.php. live.
  24. Web site: KDE Ships Plasma 5.4.0, Feature Release for August . . 25 August 2015 . 25 August 2015 . 5 September 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150905113436/https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.4.0.php . live .
  25. Web site: Four years later. Grässlin. Martin. 2015-06-29. blog.martin-graesslin.com. 2019-04-28. 2016-04-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20160413010025/http://blog.martin-graesslin.com/blog/2015/06/four-years-later/. live.
  26. Web site: KDE Ships Plasma 5.4 Beta Release. KDE. 2015-08-11. 2015-08-14. 2016-03-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304025937/https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.3.95.php. live.
  27. Web site: KDE Ships Plasma 5.5 Release . . 8 December 2015 . 31 March 2016 . 10 December 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151210214832/https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.5.0.php . live .
  28. Web site: September update for Plasma's Wayland porting. Martin's Blog. 8 October 2015. 28 October 2015. 28 November 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151128110533/http://blog.martin-graesslin.com/blog/2015/10/september-update-for-plasmas-wayland-porting/. live.
  29. Web site: KWin On Wayland Making Progress, Now Has A Virtual Backend. Phoronix. 2015-10-28. 2019-04-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20190424135314/https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=KWin-September-Wayland. live.
  30. Web site: KDE Plasma 5.6 Release . . 22 March 2016 . 31 March 2016 . 4 April 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160404014013/https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.6.0.php . live .
  31. Web site: KDE Developers Work on Improving the Security of KDE Plasma 5 on Wayland. Nestor. Marius. 24 November 2015. Softpedia. 28 April 2019. 8 April 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190408141149/https://news.softpedia.com/news/kde-developers-work-on-improving-the-security-of-kde-plasma-5-on-wayland-496612.shtml. live.
  32. Web site: KDE - KDE Plasma 5.7 Release. 5 July 2016. 11 July 2016. 20 February 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170220105523/https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.7.0.php. live.
  33. Web site: KDE at 20: Plasma 5.8 LTS. Here for the Long Term.. KDE. 4 October 2016. 6 October 2016. 7 October 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161007001242/https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.8.0.php. live.
  34. Web site: Plasma 5.8 LTS Kickerd Off for Stability and Performance. Jonathan Riddell. 8 July 2016 . 2016-07-11. 2019-04-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20190408141155/https://jriddell.org/2016/07/08/plasma-5-8-lts-kickerd-off-for-stability-and-performance/. live.
  35. Web site: Plasma 5.8 will be an LTS release . 8 July 2016 . 11 July 2016 . 9 May 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190509233245/https://www.reddit.com/r/kde/comments/4rs91d/plasma_58_will_be_an_lts_release/ . live .
  36. Web site: Plasma 5.9 Kicks off 2017 in Style.. KDE. 31 January 2017. 30 July 2019. 30 July 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190730112057/https://kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.9.0.php. live.
  37. Web site: Wayland improvements since Plasma 5.8 release . 2016-10-19 . Martin Grässlin . 2016-10-21 . 2019-05-22 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190522085135/https://blog.martin-graesslin.com/blog/2016/10/wayland-improvements-since-plasma-5-8-release/ . live .
  38. Web site: KDE Ships Plasma 5.9 . 2017-01-31 . 2017-01-31 . 2019-07-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190730112057/https://kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.9.0.php . live .
  39. Web site: Plasma 5.10. KDE. 30 May 2017. 30 July 2019. 30 July 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190730105724/https://kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.10.0.php. live.
  40. Web site: Plasma 5.10: Spring-loading in Folder View; performance work | blogs.kde.org. blogs.kde.org. 31 January 2017 . 2017-02-03. 2019-04-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20190408141159/https://blogs.kde.org/2017/01/31/plasma-510-spring-loading-folder-view-performance-work. live.
  41. Web site: Plasma 5.11. KDE. 10 October 2017. 30 July 2019. 18 October 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191018210601/https://kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.11.0.php. live.
  42. Web site: Plasma 5.11 – Keep the momentum going. 2017-10-18. OCS-Mag. 2019-04-28. 2019-04-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20190408141147/http://www.ocsmag.com/2017/10/18/plasma-5-11-keep-the-momentum-going/. live.
  43. Web site: KDE Plasma 5.11 Officially Released With Vault, Better Wayland & More - Phoronix. 2017-12-21. 2019-04-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20190424135313/https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=KDE-Plasma-5.11. live.
  44. Web site: Plasma 5.12 Release Announcement. 6 February 2018. KDE. 6 February 2018. 6 February 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180206160207/https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.12.0.php. live.
  45. Web site: Plasma 5.13 Release Announcement. 12 June 2018. KDE. 13 June 2018. 13 June 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180613050147/https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.13.0.php. live.
  46. Web site: KDE Plasma 5.13 Beta: Fast, Lightweight, and Full Featured.. 2018-05-17. 2018-05-28. 2019-06-07. https://web.archive.org/web/20190607150218/https://kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.12.90.php. live.
  47. Web site: Plasma 5.14 Release Announcement. 9 October 2018. KDE. 11 October 2018. 11 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181011030528/https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.14.0.php. live.
  48. Web site: Plasma 5.15 Release Announcement. 12 February 2019. KDE. 14 February 2019. 14 February 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190214145344/https://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.15.0.php. live.
  49. Web site: KDE Plasma 5.17: Thunderbolt, X11 Night Color and Redesigned Settings. 15 October 2019. KDE.org. 15 October 2019. 17 October 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191017050100/https://kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.17.0.php. live.
  50. Web site: KDE Plasma 5.18: More Convenient and with Long Term Stability. 11 February 2020. 12 February 2020. KDE. 6 May 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200506010142/https://kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.18.0.php. live.
  51. Web site: Plasma 5.19. 9 June 2020. 9 June 2020. KDE. 9 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200609132834/https://kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.19.0. live.
  52. Web site: Plasma 5.20. 13 October 2020. KDE. 20 November 2020. 23 November 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201123190614/https://kde.org/announcements/plasma-5.20.0/. live.
  53. Web site: Plasma 5.21. 16 February 2021. KDE. 24 February 2021. 8 March 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210308140934/https://kde.org/announcements/plasma/5/5.21.0/. live.
  54. Web site: Plasma 5.22. 8 June 2021. KDE. 8 June 2021. 8 June 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210608120940/https://kde.org/announcements/plasma/5/5.22.0/. live.
  55. Web site: Plasma - 25th Anniversary Edition. 14 October 2021. KDE. 27 October 2021. 27 October 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211027175652/https://kde.org/announcements/plasma/5/5.23.0/. live.
  56. Web site: Plasma 5.24. 8 February 2022. KDE. 8 February 2022. 8 February 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220208170956/https://kde.org/announcements/plasma/5/5.24.0/. live.
  57. Web site: Plasma 5.25. 14 June 2022. KDE. 14 June 2022. 14 June 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220614144901/https://kde.org/announcements/plasma/5/5.25.0/. live.
  58. Web site: Plasma 5.26. 11 October 2022. KDE. 11 October 2022. 11 October 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221011180626/https://kde.org/ia/announcements/plasma/5/5.26.0/. live.
  59. Web site: Plasma 5.27. 14 February 2023. KDE. 14 February 2023. live . 14 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230214190800/https://kde.org/announcements/plasma/5/5.27.0/ .

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