On software developer KDE’s 30th anniversary on October 14, the company released Plasma 6.8, launched a movie, and removed native support for Plasma’s X11 session. KDE’s announcement calls the new Plasma 6.8 a “30th Anniversary Edition” and describes the update as preparing Plasma for the future. Older X11 apps will still work through the XWayland compatibility layer, and KDE apps will continue to support X11 in other desktop environments as well.
After 42 years of service, the X11 protocol loses another major desktop environment. Plasma will fully adopt the Wayland system and end support for starting new X11 sessions in Plasma. Users choosing to stay on Plasma 6.7 will retain their existing sessions for the time being. This move was expected, with GNOME officially dropping X11 sessions by default in 2025.
The new Plasma 6.8 brings many improvements, including increased support for adding window decorations (like shadows and rounded corners) to third-party apps, and a more streamlined Union theme system. Other notable additions include Nvidia triple buffering enabled by default, Kup backup integration (KDE’s backup utility, now integrated into Plasma), and kscreenctla command line utility that allows experienced users to adjust display configurations.
Gn tech
