The Manjaro team announced the latest release of Manjaro 24.2, codenamed "Yonada". It follows the October 2024 release of Xahea and introduces several key improvements and updates across its various desktop editions.
In this blog post, we will discuss the highlights of the Manjaro Yonada release.
Table of Contents
GNOME Edition
The GNOME edition features updates to the GNOME 47 series, including fixes and refinements implemented since the original release in September 2024. Notable changes include:
- Accent Colors: Users can now customize the system-wide accent color beyond the default blue.
- Improved Low-Resolution Display Handling: GNOME 47 optimizes icon and interface element rendering for enhanced usability on screens with lower resolutions.
- Hardware-Accelerated Screen Recording: Support for hardware encoding on Intel and AMD GPUs enables smoother screen recording with reduced system strain.
- Persistent Remote Desktop Sessions: Remote login sessions persist even after disconnection, allowing users to reconnect seamlessly.
- Enhanced Files Search: The Files search function now provides more contextual information about search performance, including details about indexing and remote directories.
Plasma Edition
The Plasma edition incorporates the latest Plasma 6.2 series, Frameworks 6.8, and KDE Gear 24.08.
Plasma 6 leverages the capabilities of Qt 6 and Wayland, making Plasma a more artist-friendly environment. Key features include:
- Enhanced Drawing Tablet Support: Plasma 6.2 introduces new tools in System Settings for configuring drawing tablets.
- Improved Color Management: Full support for the Wayland color management protocol ensures consistent colors across multiple monitors.
- Power Management Enhancements: Users can now override applications preventing the system from sleeping or locking, and adjust the brightness of each connected monitor individually.
- Accessibility Improvements: The Accessibility page in System Settings has been overhauled, adding colorblindness filters and full "sticky keys" functionality on Wayland.
- System Tray and Widget Enhancements: The System Tray, Widget Explorer, and Welcome Center have received refinements.
XFCE Edition
The XFCE edition upgrades to Xfce 4.18, bringing several new features and improvements, such as:
- File Highlighting in Thunar: Users can highlight specific files in Thunar by setting custom background and foreground text colors.
- Recursive Search in Thunar: Thunar now supports recursive search functionality for improved file discovery.
- Panel Length Configuration: Panel length can now be configured in pixels instead of percentages.
- "Keep Panel Above Windows" Option: A new option allows maximized windows to fill the area behind the panel.
- New Control Center Options: The Control Center, which manages various system modules, introduces new options for disabling dialog header bars, customizing file context menus, and setting default multi-monitor behavior.
Kernel and Other Updates
Manjaro 24.2 Yonada uses Kernel 6.12 and includes the latest available drivers. The release also offers additional support for older hardware through 6.6 LTS and 6.1 LTS kernels.
However, users have reported issues with the Intel AX200 wifi chip not being detected in version 24.2. A temporary solution is to use the previous ISO with kernel 6.11. The developers are aware of this issue and plan to re-release the 6.12 ISOs with the inclusion of "linux-firmware," which may address the problem.
Download Manjaro 24.2
Manjaro 24.2 Yonada is available for download in Full and Minimal versions for GNOME, KDE, and XFCE editions, along with various kernel options.
Users can download the Manjaro 24.2 editions from the following link:
Conclusion
Manjaro 24.2 Yonada delivers a refined and updated user experience across its desktop environments. With a focus on performance, usability, and accessibility, this release solidifies Manjaro's position as a user-friendly and versatile Linux distribution. However, users should be aware of the potential wifi issue and consider using the older kernel versions if necessary.
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