What’s New in GNOME 40: A Whole New Look for Linux

Although each Linux distribution seems different from the others, it is mainly the desktop that causes this change. The desktop is, broadly speaking, the interface of the operating system, the customization layer that we all have access to and that we can easily configure to adapt the system to our needs. There are many desktops for Linux, such as KDE, i3, Cinnamon, Mate, LXDE, XFCE… but, without a doubt, one of the most popular, best known and used is GNOME .

GNOME is the desktop most used by Linux users. Ubuntu, for example, is one of the distributions that bet on it, although there are more. This gives us a good balance between customization and performance, including all kinds of options and features without saturating the system and being complicated to use.

What's New in GNOME 40

Like all software, desktops must continue to improve and evolve constantly, otherwise they would become obsolete. And so, GNOME has been preparing its new version 40 for a long time. And many users will be familiar with this new version.

What’s New in the GNOME 40 Desktop

The new GNOME 40 will be the first version of the desktop to use this new numbering , since, until now, a 3.x numbering has been used (specifically, 3.38, the latest to date). This new version supports the latest GTK 4 , and brings with it a lot of new features and changes in appearance that will make our Linux systems seem totally different.

GNOME 40

More like macOS than ever

There are distributions that seek to mimic the appearance of macOS, but now, anyone with GNOME 40 will have that similarity out of the box. The first thing we will notice as soon as we launch this new desktop is that now the workspaces are horizontal. This makes it much more comfortable to work with them and allows us to move much better from one to another. We will be able to customize these workspaces from the thumbnails themselves and we will be able to move between them with total fluidity using keyboard shortcuts, using the mouse or, if we have a touch screen, with gestures.

Another important change, and one of the most striking, is that the dash, or dock , is now at the bottom, as in Apple‘s operating system. In this we can anchor all the applications we want and, on the right, we will see a history and recent applications, separated from the rest.

Dock GNOME 40

Another of the biggest changes we will find in the application launcher . In addition to the workspaces (and their thumbnails), we can see the list of all applications, which is fully customizable by drag & drop.

Lanzador GNOME 40

The windows of this new desktop, finally, will have rounded corners by default without having to install or configure anything. A necessary modern touch that will soon be available for all Linux distros. Unfortunately, the rounded corners are not yet available for all apps.

Esquinas redondas GNOME 40

Other changes

The main applications included as standard in GNOME 40 have also received a facelift. Nautilus , the explorer, has received improvements when it comes to viewing files, searching for items, and displaying data properties. Now it is also capable of opening compressed ZIP files with a password and has a new preferences panel with more options to make its configuration easier.

Another of the best GNOME apps, Weather , has also been improved. With the new GNOME 40 it has received a complete face lift, now showing the information in a much clearer and more direct way. Maps , and the default file explorer, Epiphany , have also received their changes and new functions to remain useful programs for users.

The software center , another of the pillars of this desk, has received new sections to allow users to search and find much better what they are looking for. For example, now we are going to find a section called featured applications, the carousel will automatically move between the different applications and we will be able to see much better the change history of any app.

We will also find many interesting changes within the Settings panel. For example, the Wi-Fi section is now clearer and easier to use, we will be able to better customize the keyboard keys and change the system region, and the “About” section now shows much more detailed information about our hardware. .

Of course, a myriad of minor changes have been included throughout the desktop environment to improve its performance, stability, and existing features.

Download and test GNOME 40

GNOME has its own distro, GNOME OS , designed to allow users to test desktop new and enhancements. Although it is not recommended to use this distro on a day-to-day basis, it is one of the best ways to get a taste of what’s new on your desktop before anyone else.

Also, there are many distributions that will receive the new GNOME 40 very soon. One of the first will be Fedora 34, as this new distro will see the light of day imminently. And Rolling Release distros will still get the desktop as soon as it’s available.

Finally, remember that Ubuntu 21.04 will not bring this new desktop, but, as usual, it will come with an older version of it. Users who want to install GNOME 40 on Ubuntu will have to wait for the next version of the distro (Ubuntu 21.10), or install it by hand via its PPA.