Since we released 'Wynsdey' in May 2024, we worked hard to get the next release of Manjaro out there. We call it Xahea. The GNOME edition has received several updates to GNOME 46 series. This includes a lot of fixes and polish when GNOME 46 originally was released in March 2024. The Plasma edition comes with the latest Plasma 6.1 series 1 and KDE Gear 24.08 1. It brings exciting new improvements to your desktop. Plasma 6 hits its stride with version 6.1. While Plasma 6.0 was all about getting the migration to the underlying Qt 6 frameworks correct, 6.1 is where developers start implementing the features that will take your desktop to a new level.
The 24.10 release is built on the Debian testing repository as of October 1, 2024, and includes the Linux kernel 6.10.11-1. This version introduces an option to install Rescuezilla and features the Openbox window manager. Pre-installed applications include GParted, PCManFM, Xfce Terminal, and Netsurf, among others. Additionally, a wide array of CLI tools such as testdisk , clonezilla , ddrescue , and cryptsetup are provided. Users can also take advantage of 1-click installs for popular software like Boot-Repair, Firefox, Synaptic, and Dropbox.
The new release, version 15.24.10.01i, includes updates to Debian drivers, a new menu option to reload the desktop under "Config / Reload Desktops", and compatibility with the backup project from version 15.24.09.08i. This version is based on Debian Bookworm 64-bit for both the Live Raizo system and virtual machine. The release size is 2.24 GB for the "i" version and 1.79 GB for the "p" version.
The GParted team has released a new stable version of GParted Live, featuring GParted 1.6.0 and several updates and improvements. Key changes include the removal of the cpufrequtils package, which is no longer available in the Debian repository, and the inclusion of pm-utils , suggested by a community member. The gl-screenshot tool now uses zenity exclusively, due to the unavailability of gdialog and Xdialog . This release is based on the Debian Sid repository (as of September 28, 2024) and uses the updated Linux kernel 6.10.11-1. Users are advised that a minimum of 512 MB of RAM is required for full functionality, and there may be issues displaying the X Desktop on older NVIDIA graphics cards, with a workaround provided for safe graphics mode.
The CachyOS September 2024 release introduces several performance improvements, optimizations, and updates. This release sees the implementation of Profile-Guided Optimization (PGO) for packages like LLVM, Clang, and Node.js, achieving up to a 10% boost in performance. Additional patches from Clear Linux applied to GCC and glibc offer further gains. The repository sync frequency has been increased, and zlib has been replaced with the faster zlib-ng. KDE installations now default to using Wayland for better display management. NetworkManager's backend has shifted to systemd-resolved, resolving DNS-related issues. Various bug fixes and enhancements to the installer and hardware detection system round out this update.
The latest release introduces several major changes to Whonix, including an update to Kicksecure with numerous enhancements. Key updates include the improved anon-connection-wizard with new Snowflake configuration lines, enhancements to anon-gw-anonymizer-config for DNS support when using Snowflake, and code simplifications for anon-ws-disable-stacked-tor . The kloak package has been significantly improved and is now maintained by the Whonix project, offering support for ARM64 architectures and better device handling. Other notable changes include fixes for onion-grater to support Bisq 2, updates to qubes-whonix configuration, and an improved Whonix Welcome Page with documentation search boxes. Additionally, the Tor Browser has been updated to version 13.5.5, and there is ongoing work towards a Whonix Windows Installer and a new KVM DNS setting.
The 6.4 release introduces several updates, including a full recompile of Scarthgap in OpenEmbedded, enhancing system integration. Notably, support for the Zig programming language is added in the Scarthgap devx environment. Kernel 6.6.58 is now available, alongside improvements in KDE app MIME handling. Visual updates include new desktop icon themes, and mtPaint gains support for WebP images. Additionally, an AARNet mirror for EasyOS improves download accessibility.
More applications are now ready to use Qt6 and Frameworks 6, the big one now being Calligra. Since Calligra is again actively maintained and developed, it has returned to being the default office suite for KaOS. Another one that is now Qt6-based is Virtualbox. The UI of the installer has been updated for quite a few pages. This includes an option to choose either Calligra or LibreOffice as the preferred office suite. You will also see that the bootloader selection page and sound backend page are more integrated with Plasma 6 (through Kirigami). There also is now an option in the installer to install with the all-new filesystem bcachefs, it is still in experimental stage, but is included in the kernel build, and the needed bcachefs-tools are available in the repositories.
The Endeavour Neo release is a refresh of the fifth-anniversary Endeavour ISO, incorporating essential bug fixes and upstream updates, especially in response to recent changes in the Pacman package manager. While it doesn’t introduce new features or major fixes, it ensures a smoother installation experience with updates to the Live environment and the offline installation option. This release includes Calamares 24.06.2.1-1, Firefox 130.0.1-1, Linux 6.10.10.arch1-1, Mesa 1:24.2.3-1, Xorg-server 21.1.13-1, and Nvidia 560.35.03-6.
We've also made it easier to install additional themes in Zorin OS by adding a link to our new Third-Party Theme Installation Guide within Zorin Appearance. This guide also includes instructions for applying custom styling to native libadwaita apps, which is available thanks to an exclusive patch to the interface library in Zorin OS 17. You now have easy access to a plethora of settings to personalise how app windows behave on the Zorin Desktop. The new “Windows” section of Zorin Appearance has been neatly organised and thoughtfully designed to simplify changing window placement behaviour, how titlebars act, and how you can move the focus between open windows.