KDE Plasma 6.5 is out now with a number of highly-requested features

The next big KDE Plasma release is here with Plasma 6.5 delivering a number of major new features, as the KDE team begin to show a lot more confidence. So much confidence in fact, the update page notes how they're "on the verge of making it big for the general public".

With this release you can set automatic theme transitions between light and dark based on the time of day, there's a better zoom tool that jumps into where you actually need it, and the KRunner search tool was also improved with a new fuzzy searching feature to help you out. Even the clipboard becomes more useful in this release, letting you pin items to keep referring back to them.

Fans of drawing tablets get some more additions too as you're now able to configure any rotary dials and touch rings in the system settings page. Along with a new warning if there's a custom driver interacting with it.

Pictured - KDE Plasma 6.5, Credit: KDE Team

Another evolution is the Flatpak Permission page, which has been upgraded into a proper general desktop Application Permissions page. Here you'll be able to configure everything properly across all your apps.

Usability has also been a constant focus with an improved WiFi and Networking page, along with making connection messages clearer and providing the WiFi password along with a QR code when you're sharing to help others connect. The do not disturb mode was improved too, giving you a button to actually see all missed notifications. An addition for gamers too - the Game Controller page was updated with more info.

The list of improvements goes on and on with more accessibility improvements too like the Orca screen reader getting improvements for describing actions and keyboard shortcuts, along with telling you when the Caps Lock changes state. Plasma has also been through an audit to fix up all known cases of screen-flashing that could cause photosensitivity issues.

Thankfully, more work also went into the Discover software app to make it launch faster, and give you more info on what's holding it up along with support for "flatpak+https://" URLS.

So much more! Improved HDR content display, an experimental version of the Wayland picture-in-picture protocol was added, there's performance improvements and lots more.

See more in the release post.

A few niggles aside, KDE Plasma is incredible as a desktop. It has long been my favourite and my go-to for Linux. Nicely bridging the gap between a mostly Windows-like setup but with lots of customization. I think KDE Plasma is still the absolute best way to get more Windows users to feel at home on Linux.