Kügler: Next means Focus on the Core
Sebastian Kügler looks at the "Plasma Next" project on his blog. Plasma is the workspace portion of the KDE environment, and Next is the new version that will be released separately from KDE applications and the underlying libraries. It is based on KDE Frameworks 5 and Qt5; the first stable release is planned for June. "One of my favourite new features that has recently landed is Marco [Martin]'s work on contrast behind translucent dialogs, which hugely improves readability in many cases, and make "the old Plasma" almost look bland in comparison. We've cleaned up quite a lot of workflows, not by making them any different, but by removing visual noise in between. The idea is to polish common elements to feel fresh and like an upgrade to users, but not entirely different. In the UI, known behavioral patterns are kept in place, with more pronounced core functions, and less fuzz around them. We're aiming at keeping all the functionality and adaptability in place. To the user, the migration to Plasma Next should feel like an upgrade, not something completely new, but trusted after a bigger step in its evolution, yet recognizably true to its values."