KDE Plasma 6.6 in 100 Seconds: Everything New
KDE Plasma 6.6 is now available and brings a 144Hz animation fix, screenshot OCR, per-app volume scrolling, custom theme saving and multiple Wayland improvements to the KDE desktop environment.
In this video, I break down MOST new things in KDE Plasma 6.6 in under 100 seconds, including the long-awaited refresh rate fix in KWin, Spectacle OCR text extraction powered by Tesseract, Wi-Fi QR scanning, accessibility improvements and new optional system components like Plasma Keyboard and Plasma Login Manager.
If you’re running KDE Neon, Arch Linux, Kubuntu or any rolling-release distribution, this update is worth checking out.
Other smaller updates:
• 5×5 virtual desktop grid (25 max)
• Media seek shortcuts (±5s / ±30s)
• Grayscale color filter
• Slow Keys on Wayland
• Reduced idle memory usage
• New Plasma Keyboard
• New optional Plasma Login Manager
• OEM-style setup wizard
[00:06] - Spectacle OCR & Text Extraction: Spectacle now features built-in OCR, allowing you to extract and copy text directly from any screenshot.
[00:14] - Enhanced Screen Recording: You can now exclude specific windows from your screen recordings, providing better privacy and cleaner captures.
[00:21] - Custom Global Themes: Save your specific tweaks, including blur strength, window decorations, and colors as full global themes. These can even be automated with day/night switching.
[00:32] - Wi-Fi QR Code Scanning: Connect to networks instantly by scanning Wi-Fi QR codes directly from the network widget, bringing mobile like convenience to your desktop.
[00:40] - Taskbar Volume Control: A major usability win! Hover over an app in your taskbar and use your mouse wheel to change that specific application's volume instantly.
[00:50] - High Refresh Rate Animations: The 60 Hz animation cap is gone. Plasma and KWin now sync perfectly with your monitor's refresh rate for a buttery smooth experience.
[01:01] - Wayland Improvements: Significant upgrades to screen modes and the color pipeline ensure a more stable and visually accurate Wayland session.
[01:13] - Final Thoughts: KDE Plasma 6.6 is smarter, smoother, and more usable than ever before.
The full changelog is available on the KDE[https://kde.org/announcements/changel...] website, with videos on the dedicated overview page.