Manjaro Linux's development team has announced their next major release, Manjaro 24.0 codenamed "Wynsdey". Manjaro 24 will be the first Manjaro release to ship with the Plasma 6 desktop environment.
The Manjaro GNOME edition has also received substantial updates, aligning it with the latest GNOME 46 series.
With Wynsdey, Manjaro aims to deliver a polished and user-friendly experience across both its Plasma and GNOME editions.
The development team has worked tirelessly to ensure that the new release maintains Manjaro's reputation for stability and performance while incorporating the latest advancements in desktop environments and applications.
Table of Contents
Manjaro 24.0 Wynsdey Highlights
- Linux kernel 6.9 for the latest hardware drivers and improvements.
- Long-term support (LTS) kernels 6.6 and 6.1 for older hardware compatibility.
- GNOME 46 DE with improvements like global search in the file manager, enhanced remote desktop experience, reorganized Settings app, and overall performance enhancements.
- Plasma 6.0 and KDE Gear 24.02, featuring upgrades to Qt and graphics platform, HDR support on Wayland, redesigned panel settings, improved Settings app, and the return of the iconic cube effect.
- XFCE 4.18 with file highlighting in Thunar, panel configuration improvements, and new options in the Control Center.
- Pamac Ported to libalpm 6.1, enabling native download agents for faster and more reliable package downloads from AUR and Manjaro's binary repositories.
Linux Kernel 6.9
The latest Manjaro release ships with Linux kernel 6.9, ensuring users have access to the most recent hardware drivers and improvements available at the time of release.
To support older hardware, Manjaro also offers long-term support (LTS) kernels, including versions 6.6 LTS and 6.1 LTS.
Manjaro GNOME Edition
Originally introduced in March 2024, GNOME 46 brought numerous bug fixes and performance enhancements, further refining the user experience.
Global Search in File Manager:
GNOME's file manager now features a global search capability, allowing users to quickly locate items without needing to know their exact location.
This new search function leverages GNOME's existing file search capabilities, including the ability to search within file contents, filter by file type, and sort by modification date.
Additionally, global search enables simultaneously searching multiple locations, even those outside the user's home directory. To set up desired search locations, users can access the newly refined "Search Locations" settings and add their preferred directories.
Enhanced Remote Desktop Experience:
GNOME 46 introduces a dedicated remote login option, significantly improving the remote desktop experience. This feature allows users to remotely connect to a GNOME system that is not currently in use. By configuring the system's display from the remote side, users can enjoy a more seamless and optimized remote experience.
Reorganized Settings App:
The Settings app has undergone a reorganization in GNOME 46, making it easier to navigate and find specific preferences. A new "System" section has been added, containing settings for Region & Language, Date & Time, Users, Remote Desktop, Secure Shell, and About.
Additionally, the Apps settings have been consolidated, now including Default Apps and Removable Media settings.
Improved Core Experience and App Updates:
GNOME 46 brings numerous small improvements and refinements to the core GNOME experience, along with updates to many of GNOME's core applications.
These enhancements go beyond cosmetic changes, incorporating deep technical improvements that result in a more performant and polished user experience.
With these highlights, GNOME 46 aims to provide users with a more efficient, accessible, and visually appealing desktop environment.
For more details about GNOME 46, read the official release annoucement.
Manjaro Plasma Edition
Plasma 6.0
The Manjaro Plasma edition ships with the latest Plasma 6.0 desktop environment and KDE Gear 24.02 software suite, bringing exciting new improvements to the user's desktop experience.
Plasma 6.0 marks a major upgrade to KDE's technology stack, including a transition to the latest version of the Qt application framework and an improved graphics platform when using Wayland.
HDR Support on Wayland
One notable addition is the partial support for High Dynamic Range (HDR) on Wayland. On compatible monitors and software, this feature provides richer and deeper colors for games, videos, and visual creations.
Additionally, the redesigned panel settings make it easier to configure floating panels to users' preferences, including a new "Dodge Windows" mode that automatically hides panels when windows overlap them.
Redesigned Settings App
The improved Settings application has been redesigned to be more user-friendly, reducing the number of nested pages and relocating buttons to the toolbar for better consistency with other applications.
Customize Sound Theme
Users can now customize their sound theme, with a new default "Ocean" theme replacing the previous "Oxygen" theme.
Furthermore, users can easily configure preferred applications for broad file types, such as music and video files.
Cube Effect is Back
After a temporary removal due to architectural improvements in KWin, the famous cube effect has made a comeback, providing a visually appealing way to manage multiple desktops and impress friends and family with Plasma's capabilities.
Plasma Search:
Plasma Search has also received enhancements, including the ability to convert between timezones, which is particularly useful for frequent travelers or those communicating with colleagues and loved ones across different time zones.
Additionally, Plasma Search has been optimized for faster searching, especially for applications and settings, while consuming fewer CPU resources.
Manjaro XFCE edition
The latest Manjaro release ships with XFCE 4.18. Here are the highlights for the new XFCE 4.18 release in the Manjaro XFCE edition:
File Highlighting in Thunar File Manager:
The Thunar file manager now includes a file highlighting feature, accessible from the file properties dialog.
This new addition allows users to set a custom color background and foreground text color for specific files, making it easier to draw attention to certain files in directories containing similar-looking mime types.
Additionally, Thunar now supports recursive search, enhancing the ability to find files efficiently.
Panel Configuration Improvements:
The XFCE panel has received two new configuration options.
First, panel length can now be configured in pixels rather than percentages, providing more precise control over panel size.
Second, a new "keep panel above windows" option has been introduced, allowing maximized application windows to fill the area behind the panel instead of maximizing their bottom or top edge to sit flush against the panel.
Control Center Enhancements:
The Control Center, which groups all of the desktop's various system management modules into one window, has been updated with new options across multiple modules.
For example, users can now disable header bars in dialogs from the Appearance module, show or hide a 'delete' option in file context menus from the Desktop module, and pick a default multi-monitor behavior before attaching an additional screen.
This is a handy feature for those working with multiple displays.
Pamac, Manjaro's graphical package manager
In addition to the desktop environment updates, the Manjaro development team has also enhanced Pamac, the distribution's graphical package manager.
Pamac has been ported to libalpm 6.1, the latest version of the Arch Linux package management library.
This update allows Pamac to leverage the native download agents of libalpm, resulting in improved download performance for build scripts from the Arch User Repository (AUR) and Manjaro's binary repositories.
Upgrade
Existing users of Manjaro Linux 23.1 "Vulcan" can update their installations by executing the command sudo pacman -Syu
in a terminal emulator or through the default graphical package manager.
Download Manjaro 24.0
If you prefer fresh Manjaro installation, download your preferred Manjaro Edition from the links given below.
For all available Manjaro images, head over to the official download page.
For more details, read the official release announcement from the Manjaro team in the link given below.