KDE Plasma 6.0 Released: Qt6 Migration & Major Improvements

What's New in Plasma 6.0

Qt6 Migration Complete

The entire Plasma desktop has been ported to Qt6, bringing:

• Better performance - 15-20% faster across operations
• Modern toolkit - Qt6 brings latest features
• Improved graphics - Better rendering pipeline
• Future-proof - Qt5 is end-of-life, Qt6 is the future

Wayland by Default

• Full feature parity - Everything that worked on X11 now works on Wayland
• Better security - Wayland's security model
• Improved HDR - Partial HDR support
• Variable refresh rate - Better gaming
• Per-monitor scaling - Fractional scaling works perfectly

New Overview Effect

macOS Mission Control-style window management:

• View all windows and virtual desktops at once
• Drag windows between desktops
• Search for applications and windows
• Keyboard shortcut: Meta key or Meta+W

Redesigned System Settings

• Better organization of settings panels
• Improved search functionality
• Modern visual design
• Easier to find what you need

Performance Improvements

• 15% faster startup - Desktop loads quicker
• Lower memory usage - 10-15% reduction
• Smoother animations - Better frame pacing
• 15-20% better battery - On laptops

Getting Plasma 6.0

Fedora 41

Use the KDE Plasma spin or install on existing system:

sudo dnf install @kde-desktop-environment

Arch Linux

sudo pacman -Syu plasma-meta

KDE neon

KDE's own Ubuntu-based distribution always has latest Plasma:

• Download from neon.kde.org
• Existing neon users get automatic updates

Resources