GNOME For Linux

Spring is usually a very exciting time for pretty much everyone but for GNOME lovers in particular. Why? The answer is simple - GNOME 46 just dropped on March 20, 2024.

This version of GNOME is code-named "Kathmandu," "in recognition of the amazing work done by the organizers of GNOME.Asia 2023."

Even though I really love the way the GNOME team pays their thanks to people worthy of receiving it, I definitely appreciate the new features and changes even more.

What can we expect from GNOME 46? The short answer is better file management, improved notifications, and a lot of general small, but impactful changes.

One of the highlights of this release is the new global search feature. It can be activated using CTRL+Shift+F. Search is also a lot faster, and smarter as well. What do I mean by this? The new global search feature makes it possible for users to search multiple locations simultaneously.

The thing to note here is that there's now a dedicated button for searching in the current folder (located next to the path bar, on the right).

Ok, if you're a long-time GNOME fan, you'll most probably find this change really huge. You can now edit the path location manually. In short, you can now click the path bar to manually edit it instead of having to use the CTRL+L combo.

The Files app is not only faster, but it's also more modern looking and feeling. You can now change the folder icon a lot easier and the transfer bar has been moved to the bottom of the sidebar. The network discovery has also been improved, and there are some new interesting features such as search for preferences, detailed date and time, as well as location entry on click.

For me, the best changes are those relating to notifications. If you've been a long-time GNOME user, it would be perfectly understandable why you might be a bit annoyed with how the desktop environment displays notifications.

The notifications now feature improved layouts with a new header. The best part is that longer notifications can be either expanded or collapsed. I am not going to lie, these changes feel like a breath of fresh air.

I am also perfectly aware that I might seem a bit too pretentious when I say that it's still not enough. This is why I hope that the team will be able to bring notification grouping in the next GNOME releases (maybe even as early as GNOME 47, who knows).

GNOME 46 brings experimental support for variable refresh rates. It's not yet a finished product since you still have to use dconf to turn it on, but it's a step in the right direction, and I'm glad to see that GNOME is slowly becoming more interested in enhancing the gaming experience.

Fonts are also rendered using fractional scaling, which basically means that fonts are a bit less blurry.

The Settings app has unsurprisingly also gotten a few changes. There's a new System page that groups a lot of features and options. The GNOME Apps app has also been tweaked. It's now a lot easier to tell if an app is published by the original developer/publisher, or if more of a third-party repackaging effort.

This release is definitely a good one, with tons of both visual and under-the-hood improvements. GNOME 46, just like GNOME 45, is not exactly what one might call a game-changing release.

If I were to describe it, I would say that it's more of a transition release, but a very good one at that. Slowly but surely, GNOME is becoming a lot more polished, and a lot more usable.