KDE Plasma 5 is the fifth and current generation of the graphical workspaces environment created by
KDE
KDE is an international Free software movement, free software community that develops free and open-source software. As a central development hub, it provides tools and resources that allow collaborative work on this kind of software. Well-know ...
primarily for Linux systems. KDE Plasma 5 is the successor of
KDE Plasma 4
KDE Plasma 4 was the fourth generation of the KDE workspace environments. It consisted of three workspaces, each targeting a certain platform: ''Plasma Desktop'' for traditional desktop PCs and Notebook (computer), notebooks, ''Plasma Netbook'' fo ...
and was first released on 15 July 2014.
It includes a new default theme, known as "Breeze", as well as increased convergence across different devices. The graphical interface was fully migrated to
QML
QML (Qt Modeling Language) is a user interface markup language. It is a declarative language (similar to CSS and JSON) for designing user interface–centric applications. Inline JavaScript code handles imperative aspects. It is associated wi ...
, which uses
OpenGL
OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a cross-language, cross-platform application programming interface (API) for rendering 2D and 3D vector graphics. The API is typically used to interact with a graphics processing unit (GPU), to achieve hardwa ...
for hardware acceleration, which resulted in better performance and reduced power consumption.
Plasma Mobile
Plasma Mobile is a Plasma variant for smartphones. It is currently available for the Pinephone, and supported devices for postmarketOS such as the OnePlus 6.
It is shipped by several Linux distributions, such as postmarketOS and Manjaro.
Hist ...
is a Plasma 5 variant for Linux-based smartphones.
Overview
Software architecture
KDE Plasma 5 is built using
Qt 5
Qt (pronounced "cute") is cross-platform software for creating graphical user interfaces as well as cross-platform applications that run on various software and hardware platforms such as Linux, Windows, macOS, Android or embedded systems wit ...
and
KDE Frameworks 5
KDE Frameworks is a collection of libraries and software frameworks readily available to any Qt-based software stacks or applications on multiple operating systems. Featuring frequently needed functionality solutions like hardware integration, fi ...
, predominantly
plasma-framework
KDE Frameworks is a collection of libraries and software frameworks readily available to any Qt-based software stacks or applications on multiple operating systems. Featuring frequently needed functionality solutions like hardware integration, fi ...
.
It improves support for
HiDPI
Pixels per inch (ppi) and pixels per centimetre (ppcm or pixels/cm) are measurements of the pixel density of an electronic image device, such as a computer monitor or television display, or image digitizing device such as a camera or image scanner. ...
displays and ships a convergable
graphical shell
In computing, a shell is a computer program that exposes an operating system's services to a human user or other programs. In general, operating system shells use either a command-line interface (CLI) or graphical user interface (GUI), depending ...
, which can adjust itself according to the device in use. 5.0 also includes a new default theme, dubbed Breeze. Qt 5's QtQuick 2 uses a hardware-accelerated
OpenGL
OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a cross-language, cross-platform application programming interface (API) for rendering 2D and 3D vector graphics. The API is typically used to interact with a graphics processing unit (GPU), to achieve hardwa ...
(
ES)
scene graph (canvas) to compose and render graphics on the screen, which allows for the offloading of computationally expensive graphics rendering tasks onto the
GPU
A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobil ...
, freeing up resources on the system's main
CPU
A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, and ...
.
Windowing systems
![KDE Plasma 5](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/KDE_Plasma_5.24_on_Arch_Linux_screenshot.png)
KDE Plasma 5 uses the
X Window System
The X Window System (X11, or simply X) is a windowing system for bitmap displays, common on Unix-like operating systems.
X provides the basic framework for a GUI environment: drawing and moving windows on the display device and interacting wit ...
and
Wayland. Support for Wayland was prepared in the compositor and planned for a later release.
It was made initially available in the 5.4 release.
[ Stable support for a basic Wayland session was provided in the 5.5 release (December 2015).
Support for NVIDIA proprietary driver for Plasma on Wayland was added in the 5.16 release (June 2019).]
Development
Since the split of the KDE Software Compilation
The KDE Software Compilation (KDE SC) was an umbrella term for the desktop environment plus a range of included applications produced by KDE. From its 1.0 release in July 1998 until the release of version 4.4 in February 2010, the Software Compi ...
into KDE Plasma, KDE Frameworks
KDE Frameworks is a collection of libraries and software frameworks readily available to any Qt-based software stacks or applications on multiple operating systems. Featuring frequently needed functionality solutions like hardware integration, fi ...
and KDE Applications
The KDE Gear (also known as the KDE Applications Bundle or KDE Applications) is a set of applications and supporting libraries that are developed by the KDE community, primarily used on Linux-based operating systems but mostly multiplatform, and ...
, each subproject can develop at its own pace.[ KDE Plasma 5 is on its own release schedule, with feature releases every four months, and bugfix releases in the intervening months.
]
Workspaces
The latest Plasma 5 features the following workspaces:
* ''Plasma Desktop'' for any mouse or keyboard driven computing devices like desktops or laptops
* ''Plasma Mobile
Plasma Mobile is a Plasma variant for smartphones. It is currently available for the Pinephone, and supported devices for postmarketOS such as the OnePlus 6.
It is shipped by several Linux distributions, such as postmarketOS and Manjaro.
Hist ...
'' for smartphones
* ''Plasma Bigscreen
Plasma Bigscreen is a software project from KDE which contains an interface optimized for Smart TVs and other computers such as the Raspberry Pi which can be connected to large displays.
Software
The desktop environment is based on KDE Plasma ...
'' for TVs and set-top boxes incl. voice interaction
* ''Plasma Nano'', a minimal shell for embedded and touch-enabled devices, like IoT or automotive
Desktop features
* KRunner, a search feature with many available plugins. In addition to launching apps, it can find files and folders, open websites, convert from one currency or unit to another, calculate simple mathematical expressions, and perform numerous other useful tasks.
* Flexible desktop and panel layouts composed of individual Widgets (also known as "Plasmoids") which can be individually configured, moved around, replaced with alternatives, or deleted. Each screen's layout can be individually configured. New widgets created by others can be downloaded within Plasma.
* Powerful clipboard with a memory of previously-copied pieces of text that can be called up at will.
* Systemwide notification system supporting quick reply and drag-and-drop straight from notifications, history view, and a Do Not Disturb mode.
* Central location to control playback of media in open apps, the phone (with KDE Connect installed), or the web browser (with Plasma Browser Integration installed)
* Activities, which allow users to separate methods of using the system into distinct workspaces. Each activity can have its own set of favorite and recently used applications, wallpapers, "virtual desktop
In computing, a virtual desktop is a term used with respect to user interfaces, usually within the WIMP paradigm, to describe ways in which the virtual space of a computer's desktop environment is expanded beyond the physical limits of the s ...
s", panels, window styles, and layout configurations. It also couples with (X Session Manager In the X Window System, an X session manager is a session management program, a program that can save and restore the current state of a set of running applications, including window manager.
Overview
From the point of view of an X session manag ...
implementation) which keeps track of apps that can be run or shutdown along with given activity via subSessions functionality that keep track of state of applications (not all applications support this feature as they don't implement XSMP protocol).
* Encrypted vaults for storing sensitive data.
* Night Color, which can automatically warm the screen colors at night, or user-specified times, or manually.
* Styling for icons, cursors, application colors, user interface elements, splash screens and more can be changed, with new styles created by others being downloadable from within the System Settings application. Global Themes allow the entire look-and-feel of the system to be changed in one click.
* Session Management allows apps which were running when the system shut down to be automatically restarted in the same state they were in before.
History
The first Technology Preview of Plasma 5 (at that time called ''Plasma 2'') was released on 13 December 2013. On 15 July 2014, the first release version Plasma 5.0 was released.
In spring 2015, Plasma 5 replaced Plasma 4 in many popular distributions, such as Fedora 22, Kubuntu
Kubuntu ( ) is an official flavor of the Ubuntu operating system that uses the KDE Plasma Desktop instead of the GNOME desktop environment. As part of the Ubuntu project, Kubuntu uses the same underlying systems. Kubuntu shares the same repositor ...
15.04, and openSUSE
openSUSE () is a free and open-source software, free and open source RPM Package Manager, RPM-based Linux distribution developed by the openSUSE project.
The initial release of the community project was a beta version of SUSE Linux 10.0.
Addi ...
Tumbleweed.
Releases
Feature releases are released every four months (up to 5.8 every three months) and bugfix releases in the intervening months. Following version 5.8 LTS KDE plans to support each new LTS version for 18 months with bug fixes, while new regular releases will see feature improvements.
See also
* GNOME
A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its characte ...
* Comparison of X Window System desktop environments
A desktop environment is a collection of software designed to give functionality and a certain look and feel to an operating system.
This article applies to operating systems which are capable of running the X Window System, mostly Unix and Unix- ...
Gallery
KDE Plasma 5 Lockscreen.png, Default lock screen of Plasma 5
Kscreen-krunner.png, Plasma 5 showing KRunner and display management
Plasma 5 power managament.png, Power management and keyboard brightness OSD
Shutdown screen of Plasma 5.png, Shutdown screen of Plasma 5
Simple-desktop-display-manager-kde.png, Login screen of Plasma 5
Kde-system-settings.png, Plasma System Settings
References
External links
*
Plasma Mobile website
Plasma user wiki
Plasma developer wiki
{{Widget engine
Free desktop environments
KDE Plasma
Software that uses QML
Unix windowing system-related software
Widget engines