KDE Plasma 6

The KDE Plasma 6 desktop
Developer(s)	KDE
Initial release	28 February 2024;11 months ago (2024-02-28) [1]
Stable release	6.2.5 [2]   / 31 December 2024
Preview release	n/a
Repository	invent.kde.org/plasma
Written in	C++, QML
Operating system	Unix-like
Platform	FreeBSD, OpenBSD [3] and Linux
Predecessor	KDE Plasma 5
Type	Desktop environment
License	GPL 2.0 or later [4]
Website	kde.org/plasma-desktop

KDE Plasma 6 is the sixth generation of the KDE Plasma desktop environment. It is the successor of KDE Plasma 5 and was first released on 28 February 2024. ^[1]

Overview

KDE Plasma 6 was designed to not be a very large departure from KDE Plasma 5, instead being a series of improvements. ^[5] KDE Plasma 6 is built using Qt 6, KDE Frameworks 6 and KDE Gear 24.02. ^{[1] [6]} In addition, support for the Wayland protocol was mainstreamed as the default graphical session, with X11 support made secondary. ^[7] It introduces a new sound theme, Ocean, replacing Oxygen's sound theme as the default. ^{[1] [6] [8]} Plasma 6 on Wayland has partial support for High Dynamic Range (HDR) and color blindness correction filters. ^{[1] [6] [9]} The Discover app and settings were also improved and the 3D cube desktop effect was brought back. ^[10]

New features

Compared to the latest Plasma 5 release, the sixth generation brings the following new features:

• The panel floats by default. Panels can be configured using auto-hide mode and be resized, including being turned into a dock. ^{[10] [6]}
• Plasma Search allows customizing the ordering of search results, supports timezones conversion and matches the text in both the current system language and English. ^{[5] [6]}
• Support for the Astronomical and Umm al-Qura Calendars in the calendar applet. ^[6]
• Support for use of both password and fingerprint authentication at the same time. ^{[1] [11]}
• Support for sound themes. ^[6]

History

The first Technology Preview of Plasma 6 was released on 28 February 2024. ^[1]

Releases

See also: KDE Software Compilation § Release cycle

Releases of new versions are planned every 4 months (3 times a year) initially. Though it may move to 2 releases a year in the future. ^[12]

Normal releases will stop receiving bugfixes as soon as the following release is available. The exception to this rule are LTS releases.

Plasma 6 releases [13]
Version	Date	Key features
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.0 [1] [14]	28 Feb 2024	First release of KDE Plasma 6.0 (also known as KDE MegaRelease 6)
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.0.1 [12]	5 Mar 2024	First bugfix release for KDE Plasma 6.0
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.0.2 [15]	12 Mar 2024	Second bugfix release for KDE Plasma 6.0
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.0.3 [16]	26 Mar 2024	Third bugfix release for KDE Plasma 6.0
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.0.4 [17]	16 Apr 2024	Fourth bugfix release for KDE Plasma 6.0
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.1 [18] [19]	18 Jun 2024	Remote desktop, better widget editing, persistent apps, synchronizing keyboard LEDs with accent color.
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.1.1 [20]	25 Jun 2024	First bugfix release for KDE Plasma 6.1
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.1.2 [21]	2 Jul 2024	Second bugfix release for KDE Plasma 6.1
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.1.3 [22]	16 Jul 2024	Third bugfix release for KDE Plasma 6.1
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.1.4	12 Aug 2024	Fourth bugfix release for KDE Plasma 6.1
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.1.5 [23]	10 Sep 2024	Fifth bugfix release for KDE Plasma 6.1
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.2 [24] [25]	8 Oct 2024	Drawing tablet calibration wizard and test mode, improved HDR support, support for PostmarketOS packages in Discover, overhauled Accessibility page in System Settings.
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.2.1 [26]	15 Oct 2024	First bugfix release for Plasma 6.2
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.2.2 [27]	22 Oct 2024	Second bugfix release for Plasma 6.2
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.2.3 [28]	5 Nov 2024	Third bugfix release for Plasma 6.2
Old version, no longer maintained: 6.2.4 [29]	26 Nov 2024	Fourth bugfix release for Plasma 6.2
Current stable version:6.2.5 [30]	31 Dec 2024	Fifth bugfix release for Plasma 6.2
Legend: Old version Old version, still maintained Latest version Latest preview version Future release

References

1. "KDE MegaRelease 6". KDE. 28 February 2024. Archived from the original on 28 February 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
2. "KDE Plasma 6.2.5, Bugfix Release for December". 31 December 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
3. Sadowski, Rafael (20 May 2024). "KDE6 on OpenBSD". rsadowski.de. Archived from the original on 9 October 2024. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
4. "Copying of Plasma Workspace". KDE Invent. Archived from the original on 4 May 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
5. Wallen, Jack (11 September 2023). "I tested KDE Plasma 6 and found it very familiar. Here's why that's a good thing". ZDNET. Archived from the original on 26 March 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
6. Nestor, Marius (28 February 2024). "KDE Plasma 6 Desktop Environment Officially Released, This Is What's New". 9to5Linux. Archived from the original on 20 May 2024. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
7. Wallen, Jack (14 February 2024). "The first Linux distribution to deliver a pure KDE Plasma 6 environment is here". ZDNET. Archived from the original on 24 March 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
8. Sneddon, Joey (28 February 2024). "KDE Plasma 6.0 Has Arrived, This is What's New". OMG! Ubuntu. Archived from the original on 3 March 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
9. Davenport, Corbin (28 February 2024). "KDE 6 Update Arrives With Big Plasma Desktop Updates for Linux". How-To Geek. Archived from the original on 5 March 2024. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
10. Rudra, Sourav (28 February 2024). "KDE Plasma 6: The Big Release is Here!". It's FOSS News. Archived from the original on 22 September 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
11. "Plasma/Plasma 6". KDE Community Wiki. Archived from the original on 30 September 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
12. "KDE Plasma 6.0.1, Bugfix Release for March". announcements.kde.org. 5 March 2024. Archived from the original on 6 March 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
13. "Schedules/Plasma 6 - KDE Community Wiki". community.kde.org. Archived from the original on 28 February 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
14. Proven, Liam (29 February 2024). "KDE Plasma 6.0 brings the same old charm and confusion". The Register . Archived from the original on 15 January 2025. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
15. "KDE Plasma 6.0.2, Bugfix Release for March". 12 March 2024. Archived from the original on 27 March 2024.
16. "KDE Plasma 6.0.3, Bugfix Release for March". 26 March 2024. Archived from the original on 27 March 2024.
17. "KDE Plasma 6.0.4, Bugfix Release for April". 16 April 2024. Archived from the original on 15 May 2024.
18. "Plasma 6.1". KDE Community. 18 June 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
19. Sneddon, Joey (18 June 2024). "KDE Plasma 6.1 Released With… Well, A Fair Bit!". OMG! Ubuntu. Archived from the original on 22 January 2025. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
20. "KDE Plasma 6.1.1, Bugfix Release for June". KDE Community. 25 June 2024. Archived from the original on 29 June 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
21. "KDE Plasma 6.1.2, Bugfix Release for July". KDE Community. 2 July 2024. Archived from the original on 3 December 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
22. "KDE Plasma 6.1.2, Bugfix Release for July". KDE Community. 2 July 2024. Archived from the original on 3 December 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
23. "KDE Plasma 6.1.5, Bugfix Release for September". KDE Community. 10 September 2024. Archived from the original on 15 January 2025. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
24. "Plasma 6.2". KDE Community. 8 October 2024. Archived from the original on 9 October 2024. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
25. Sneddon, Joey (8 October 2024). "KDE Plasma 6.2 Released, This is What's New". OMG! Ubuntu. Archived from the original on 26 January 2025. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
26. "KDE Plasma 6.2.1, Bugfix Release for October". KDE Community. 15 October 2024. Archived from the original on 17 January 2025. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
27. "KDE Plasma 6.2.2, Bugfix Release for October". KDE Community. 22 October 2024. Archived from the original on 18 January 2025. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
28. "KDE Plasma 6.2.3, Bugfix Release for November". KDE Community. 5 November 2024. Archived from the original on 26 January 2025. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
29. "KDE Plasma 6.2.4, Bugfix Release for November". KDE Community. 26 November 2024. Archived from the original on 24 January 2025. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
30. "KDE Plasma 6.2.5, Bugfix Release for December". KDE Community. 31 December 2024. Archived from the original on 24 January 2025. Retrieved 3 January 2025.