GNOME 46 Linux desktop released with experimental VRR support and more

The GNOME developers have released an update to their desktop environment, staying true to their six-monthly release cycle. While GNOME 46 "Kathmandu" brings a handful of new features, the focus is clearly on optimisations, bug fixes and porting existing GTK3 applications to GTK4.

First and foremost, there are major improvements to GNOME's file manager, which now has a global search function. In GNOME 46, clicking on the magnifying glass icon in the "File" application, or using the shortcut Ctrl + Shift + F, will bring up the global search function, which now also searches the contents of files. The settings menu can also be used to configure the search to include other file locations in addition to the home directory.

The Files application has also been enhanced to include a dynamic copy progress indicator, now located at the bottom of the sidebar. Due to optimisations in the file manager's source code, the application is now much faster in GNOME 46 when switching between grid and list view. The GNOME Desktop's preference pane has also been restructured in GNOME 46 to include a new "System" section, which combines several previously separate preference options.

Of particular interest to Linux gamers is the support for variable refresh rates (VRR), which brings GNOME 46 up to speed with KDE Plasma, which has supported VRR since February with the release of Plasma 6. However, the variable refresh rate feature in GNOME 46 is still classified as experimental, requiring manual activation via the dconf editor or the terminal command gsettings set org.gnome.mother experimental-features "['variable-refresh-rate']".

Additional new features include support for OneDrive in online accounts, remote login via RDP, improved accessibility options and revised notifications. An overview of all changes in GNOME 46 can be found on the GNOME Project blog entry.