GNOME 49, codenamed “Brescia,” has formally been launched, bringing quite a lot of new options and enhancements like a brand new video participant, a brand new doc viewer, and a few superior new wallpapers. You are going to see it rolling out to in style Linux distributions like Fedora 43 and Ubuntu 25.10 very quickly.
Showtime is now the default video participant, changing the previous Totem app. The brand new Video Participant is constructed on a extra fashionable base (GTK 4 and Libadwaita), and it appears higher at providing you with a distraction-free viewing expertise. It is obtained all of the necessities you’d anticipate, like adjustable playback velocity, a number of audio and subtitle tracks, and the power to take screenshots. It is a much-needed improve that makes watching movies really feel extra simple.
In an analogous transfer, Papers is taking up because the default Doc Viewer, changing Evince. Like the brand new video participant, it’s constructed with GTK 4 and Libadwaita, and it brings a cleaner design and higher efficiency. Papers additionally has a cool new streamlined PDF annotation characteristic and may deal with all the same old codecs like PDFs, DjVu, and even comic-book archives.
Talking of enhancements, the Calendar app obtained some severe love in this release. The builders have made it far more accessible for individuals who depend on keyboard navigation or assistive applied sciences. The interface is now extra versatile, so it may possibly adapt to totally different window sizes, and you may even conceal the sidebar for smaller screens.
It’s also possible to now export your occasions as .ics recordsdata, which could be very useful for sharing or backing up your schedule. The net browser has additionally been given a serious spherical of bug fixes and new options. It now has higher advert blocking with help for regional lists, a brand new site-specific menu within the URL bar, and a cool estimated studying time characteristic for reader mode. There are additionally higher security measures and a redesigned password administration dialog, which is all the time a very good factor.
I am fairly fundamental as a result of I like a very good visible improve, and GNOME 49 is delivering large time on that entrance. It’s obtained a brand new wallpaper catalog that is particularly made for HDR shows and the Show P3 shade area. That is due to some higher shade administration in GNOME’s window supervisor, Mutter, which might now render wallpapers with their full 16-bit-per-channel RGB depth. This seems to be good, but it surely additionally helps that the efficiency of color-managed pipelines has been improved.
On the productiveness and comfort facet, there are a bunch of smaller however actually significant enhancements. The lock display now has media controls, so you may pause or skip tracks with out having to unlock your pc. There are additionally new HDR brightness controls within the Fast Settings, so you may simply modify the brightness of exterior shows. Additionally, you may allow Reboot and Shutdown choices immediately from the lock display.
For those who’re a distant desktop person, you will be completely satisfied to know that GNOME’s distant desktop capabilities have been enhanced with multitouch enter help and relative mouse enter for issues like gaming. There are additionally extra digital displays when utilizing GNOME as a distant desktop.
As all the time, the GNOME Circle initiative remains to be rising, with two new apps, Mahjongg and Wordbook, coming within the replace. For those who’re looking forward to extra, you are in luck, as a result of GNOME 50 is deliberate for March 2026.
Supply: GNOME
