Testing the KDE Plasma 5.20 Desktop

Available for testing, the beta version of the Plasma 5.20 custom shell. You can test the new release through Live build from the openSUSE project and builds from the project KDE Neon Testing Edition. Packages for various distributions can be found at this page. Release expected 13 October.

Testing the KDE Plasma 5.20 Desktop

Key improvements:

  • Significantly improved Wayland support. The Wayland-based session has been brought to parity in functionality with the mode of operation on top of X11. Added Clipper support. Fixed issues with screencasting. Added the ability to paste with the middle mouse button (so far only in KDE applications, does not work in GTK). Fixed stability issues with XWayland, the DDX server, to ensure compatibility with X11 applications. Adjusted the correct display of KRunner when using the top bar. The ability to adjust the speed of mouse movement and scrolling is provided. Added support for displaying window thumbnails in the task manager.
  • By default, an alternative taskbar layout is enabled, which is displayed at the bottom of the screen and provides navigation through open windows and running applications. Instead of traditional buttons with the name of the program, only square icons are now displayed. The classic layout can be brought back through the settings.

    Testing the KDE Plasma 5.20 Desktop

  • The panel also has grouping by application enabled by default, in which all windows of the same application are represented by only one drop-down button. For example, when multiple Firefox windows are open, only one button with the Firefox logo will be shown in the panel, and only after clicking on this button, the buttons of individual windows will be shown.
  • Buttons on the panel that, when clicked, will display an additional menu, now display an indicator in the form of an arrow.

    Testing the KDE Plasma 5.20 Desktop

  • Redesigned and made less obtrusive the on-screen indicators (OSD) that appear when changing the brightness or volume. When exceeding the base maximum volume level, a warning is now displayed that the volume exceeds 100%.
  • Provides a smooth transition when changing brightness.
  • The pop-up systray indicator now displays items as a grid of icons instead of a list. The thumbnail size can be adjusted according to the user's preference.
  • The clock applet now displays the current date, and the popup dialog is now more compact.

    Testing the KDE Plasma 5.20 Desktop

  • An option has been added to the task manager to disable the minimization of active task windows when clicked. Clicking on grouped items in the task manager now cycles through each task by default.
  • The keyboard shortcut for moving windows and resizing them has been changed - instead of dragging with the mouse while holding down the Alt key, the Meta key is now used to avoid conflict with a similar combination used in applications.
  • Some laptops provide the ability to set the battery charge limit below 100% to extend battery life.
  • Added the ability to dock windows to the corners in tiled mode by combining docking keys to the left, right, top, and bottom edges. For example, pressing Meta+Up Arrow and then Left Arrow will snap the window to the top left corner.
  • GTK applications with controls and menus in the header area (application decoration of the header area) now take into account KDE settings for buttons in the header area.


  • Widgets provide page display
    'About' in the settings window.

  • Provided a warning about the exhaustion of free space on the system partition, even if the home directory is located on another partition.
  • Minimized windows are now placed at the end of the task list in the Alt+Tab task switching interface.
  • Added a setting to allow KRunner to use floating windows that are not docked at the top. KRunner also implemented remembering a previously entered search phrase and added support for searching web pages opened in the Falkon browser.

    Testing the KDE Plasma 5.20 Desktop

  • In the sound control applet and the sound settings page, weeding out unused sound devices is enabled by default.
  • The 'Device Notifier' applet has been renamed to 'Disks & Devices' and extended to provide information about all disks, not just external drives.
  • You can now use the middle button on the notification applet to switch to Do Not Disturb mode.
  • A setting has been added to the browser control widget to change the zoom level.
  • The configurator implements highlighting of changed values, which allows you to clearly see which of the settings differ from the default values.
  • Added output of warnings about failures and events for monitoring the status of disks received through the SMART mechanism

    Testing the KDE Plasma 5.20 Desktop

  • Completely redesigned and equipped with a modern interface pages with autorun settings, Bluetooth and user management.
  • The settings for standard keyboard shortcuts and global hotkeys are merged into one common 'Shortcuts' page.
  • An option has appeared in the sound settings to change the balance, allowing you to adjust the volume separately for each audio channel.
  • The input device settings provide finer control over cursor speed.

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