Work on the next major release of the popular GNOME desktop environment, GNOME 43, is underway and we are getting closer to the first alpha development release with many new features such as support for web applications in software , a new device security information panel in Settings, and support for WebExtensions in Web.
As with all novelties, Gnome 43 will bring more new features to fans of the desktop environment written by GTK. The development team is working hard these days to release the alpha version for public testing before the GUADEC 2022 conference, taking place July 20-25 in Guadalajara, Mexico, as the first in-person GNOME event in the past two years.
We’re still two and a half months away from the final release of GNOME 43, but I wanted to share some exciting new features you’ll be enjoying this fall, as well as some of the improvements implemented so far.
First, GNOME Software 43 supports web applications, with a focus on PWAs (Progressive Web Apps). With this, GNOME developers want you to enjoy even more applications on your Linux distribution.
In addition to supporting web applications, GNOME Software 43 also brings better support for Flatpak applications, as the graphical package manager and application store are now able to display file system permissions requested by Flatpak applications.
Additionally, GNOME Software 43 features new touch gestures for backtracking in the shell, a new “Other apps by author” section on the app details page, a new “Available for Distro” section on the presentation, improved caching of uploaded metadata and notifications and mouse navigation of application screenshots.
Second, GNOME Settings (aka GNOME Control Center) 43 is getting a new Device Security section in the privacy settings that will display the security status of your hardware generated by the fwupd Project and hardware configuration changes, such as HSI security level and Secure Boot status. Users will be able to choose between three pre-configured levels of security for their hardware, such as minimum, basic or extended protection.
Finally, it looks like GNOME 43 will bring initial support for WebExtensions to the GNOME Web (Epiphany) web browser, finally allowing you to extend the capabilities of GNOME’s default web browser with third-party add-ons from other popular web browsers. , such as MozillaFirefox or Google Chrome. More details are available here.
Of course, there will be even more exciting new features to enjoy this fall in the GNOME 43 desktop environment, so keep an eye out there as I’ll let you know as more information comes to light until the end. final release on September 21, 2022.
Last updated 2 days ago
