Solus, a popular Linux distribution known for its user-friendly experience and commitment to stability, has released Solus 4.6, codenamed "Convergence." This latest update builds upon the foundation laid by its predecessor, Solus 4.5, bringing significant enhancements across the board.
One of the most prominent features in Solus 4.6 is the continued progress of the Usr-Merge initiative. This initiative, aimed at unifying system directories, has now reached its third stage, resulting in all current Solus users now operating on a Usr-Merged system. New installations using the updated ISOs will also benefit from this change. Usr-Merge promises to streamline system administration and improve overall system performance by simplifying the organization of user files.
Beyond Usr-Merge, Solus 4.6 brings a wealth of upgrades to the desktop environments. The Budgie edition boasts Budgie 10.9, delivering enhanced stability and a more polished user experience. The GNOME edition features GNOME 46.5, which brings features like Global Search, a revamped Files app, OneDrive support in online accounts, and RDP support for remote login. The Plasma edition shines with Plasma 6.1.5, KDE Gear 24.08.1 apps, and KDE Frameworks 6.6, providing users with the latest KDE advancements and continued Wayland support. The XFCE edition, though still in beta, showcases version 4.18, featuring updates to default apps like Engrampa, the archive manager, and XReader, the PDF viewer. The addition of plugins like dashboard and xfce4-battery-plugin further enhances the XFCE desktop experience.
To ensure a smooth multimedia experience, each desktop edition of Solus 4.6 comes equipped with tailored software. The Budgie and GNOME editions include Rhythmbox, featuring the Alternate Toolbar extension for a modern interface, for audio playback, while Celluloid serves as the video player of choice. XFCE users enjoy Parole for media playback, and Plasma users are equipped with Elisa for audio and Haruna for video.
Powering Solus 4.6 is the robust Linux kernel 6.10, with an LTS kernel 6.6 available for users seeking long-term support. The updated kernel removes AppArmor patches, reducing maintenance workload while enabling partial confinement for Snaps, further enhancing system security and stability.
In terms of graphics performance, Solus 4.6 benefits from the upgraded Mesa v24.2, which introduces new Vulkan extensions and a revamped shader cache implementation. This upgrade minimizes filesystem overhead, leading to smoother graphics rendering and overall improved performance.
Solus 4.6 "Convergence" offers users an engaging blend of stability, performance, and cutting-edge features. The distro’s commitment to providing a smooth and efficient user experience is evident in its attention to detail and comprehensive support for diverse hardware configurations.
As the Solus team continues to refine and improve the distribution, users can expect future releases to bring even more exciting enhancements and features.
The Solus 4.6 release is available now for download from the project’s website, offering all four desktop editions—Budgie, GNOME, Plasma, and XFCE—as direct downloads or torrent options. Interested users can explore the release announcement for a detailed overview of all changes and enhancements.
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