GNOME 40.4, a point update, has been available since last weekend. Among its key new features are improvements to Flatpak package support. Late yesterday in Spain, the project released GNOME 41 Beta 1, the first version available for public testing. However, it is not yet mature enough to be considered stable and is therefore not intended for production environments.
Among the new features, what stands out most are the improvements to the calling app/interface , which is surprising considering this is a desktop environment for desktop computers, if you'll pardon the redundancy. They've also included further improvements to Wayland, the display manager (GDM), and apps have received new functions. Below is a list of the most notable new features in GNOME 41 Beta 1.
Highlights of GNOME 41 Beta
- GNOME Calls has started adding SIP-based functionality with user interface-based support for managing a SIP account and making / receiving VoIP calls.
- GDM now allows the user session to be Wayland even if the login screen is X.Org based.
- GDM now allows user sessions for NVIDIA systems from a single GPU vendor.
- Calendar can now open ICS files and import events.
- The Control Center adds new "Cellular" and "Multitasking" panels.
- Disk Utility now uses LUKS2 for new encrypted partitions.
- The GNOME Initial Setup "Software" page has been restored to easily switch to third-party repositories.
- Music has started to implement its new design mockups.
- GNOME Shell has fixed XWayland application support when systemd is not used in user session.
- GNOME Software has seen a revision of its user interface.
- The Nautilus file manager has redesigned its "Compress" dialog, among other improvements.
Users interested in trying GNOME 41 Beta can do so from the GNOME OS ISO , available here.