Nate Graham, a developer engaged in quality control in the KDE project, published another report on the development of KDE. Following the release of KDE Plasma 6.3.0, several unpleasant errors were discovered, which are set to be addressed in the upcoming update 6.3.1, scheduled for February 18. An issue in the X11 session causing the Kwin composite manager to abruptly terminate when connecting a new screen or switching between screens connected via HDMI has been identified. KDE users are advised to consider transitioning to a Wayland protocol-based session as KDE developers have largely halted testing on the X11 session.
Among the corrections to be included in the upcoming 6.3.1 update are fixes for the abrupt terminations of Kwin that occur when connecting devices through Thunderbolt and switching processes via Alt+Tab during software rendering. A regression causing abrupt terminations of some QT applications using the Breeze style is also set to be resolved. Additionally, a problem in the Plasma desktop resulting in crashes after clicking on the network icon in the system tray, specifically when compiled with GCC 15, is being addressed. Another issue involving Kwin shutting down to a black screen after ICC profile changes in screen settings when compiled with GCC 15 and LTO optimization is also slated for resolution.
Improvements planned for KDE Plasma 6.4.0 include a switch for playback speed for the media processor control applet using the MPRIS protocol, a design update for the energy consumption schedule in the system information app reminiscent of the System monitor, the ability to scale thumbnails in the built-in image viewer in the Spectacle screenshot tool for touch screens, and support for scrolling content in Widget Explorer using a one-finger gesture on touch screens.
Additional patches proposed for inclusion in KDE Plasma 6.3.1 aim to enhance the functionality of the weather forecast display, improve sorting in the Discover application manager, and remember the size and position of the Welcome Center application window.