KaOS Linux 2024.01 Released with a Pure KDE Plasma 6-Based Environment
KDE Plasma 6 is almost here and we will all be able to enjoy its new features and improvements starting February 28th, 2024, but KaOS Linux devs are ahead of the game with their Arch Linux-inspired distro and are shipping today a new ISO running the second Release Candidate (RC) version of Plasma 6, Frameworks 6, and KDE Gear 24.02.
Even if Plasma 6 will be released on February 28th, it will take a while for most rolling-release distributions like Arch Linux or openSUSE Tumbleweed to package it and push the massive update to users. But if you can’t wait until then, you can download and install KaOS Linux 2024.01 right now and update your installation up until February 28th to be the first to run KDE Plasma 6.
Linuxiac:
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KaOS 2024.01 Delivers a Pure Plasma 6 Experience
KaOS 2024 Delivers a Pure Plasma 6 Experience
KaOS, an independent rolling-release distribution inspired by Arch Linux but entirely focused on the Plasma desktop, rolls out KaOS 2024.01, a release that marks a new era in distribution’s evolution. Here’s what it’s all about.
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KaOS 2024.01
It is a great pleasure to present to you the January release of a new stable ISO.
This release marks the end of Plasma 5 as the default Desktop Environment for KaOS. Almost fifteen months ago work started to fully migrate to a Frameworks 6, Plasma 6 based distribution, and with the release of Plasma 6 Release Candidate 2) this migration is now deemed ready to bring a better user experience than Plasma 5. From the onset of this migration, there was never a plan to mix the two environments. What you will see on this ISO is a pure Plasma 6 based environment.
KaOS though has been shipping all ported applications from their Frameworks 6 branch in the many snapshot ISOs it has released to get ready for this migration. Just about all applications that users have become used to seeing in a Frameworks 5 / Plasma 5 version are available as a Frameworks 6 / Plasma 6 port. For the few applications that are not ready yet, Frameworks 5 is still packaged, so they can be used in a Plasma 6 environment. Those that rely on parts of Plasma 5 will be missing from the KaOS repositories until their ports are ready for daily use.
ZDNet:
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The first Linux distribution to deliver a pure KDE Plasma 6 environment is here
KDE Plasma 6 has been creeping up to the doorstep of release for some time and we knew one distribution would be brave enough to launch it first. Well, it turns out that distribution was KaOS Linux and they've taken KDE Plasma 6 and turned it into a glorious desktop operating system that would make just about anyone happen to use.
Instead of going the traditional route of the same-old-same-old panel at the bottom desktop, the KaOS team delivers a slight variation of the theme and places the panel on the right side of the display, giving it a slightly unique look. To my pleasant surprise, they've also gone with a light theme as the default (where most distributions seem to be convinced everyone wants a darker take on the UI).