Elementary OS isn’t as popular as it once was, but it’s still a well-designed desktop Linux distribution with an excellent suite of custom-built applications. Now, a new major version is available with multitasking improvements, 64-bit ARM support, and much more.
The previous Elementary OS 8 update introduced a new Dock for opening and switching applications, replacing the Plank panel from previous versions. Some features from the Plank are coming back, like multiple dots for apps with multiple windows, and cycling through app windows when you drag a file over an app icon. There’s also now an option for background apps to appear in the dock.
The AppCenter already includes the Flathub software repository by default, and in Elementary OS 8.1, the same ratings from ODRS used by GNOME Software are visible on app listings. There are also new indicators for games that support controllers and changes to the app update page. Other design improvements include dark mode support for the lock screen, better screen reader compatibility in the installer and system settings, and a blur-behind effect for the Dock and notifications.
There are some changes to the built-in applications, too. There’s a new system monitor for checking your system resources and processes, a new Maps app, better queue management in the Music player, a modern tab bar in Terminal, and an updated GNOME Web 48.3 web browser.
Moving into behind-the-scenes improvements, ‘Secure Session’ is now the default session, which is powered by Wayland instead of X11. It was already an option in Elementary OS 8, but the blog post explained, “we’ve released updates every month fixing issues that you’ve reported, third party app developers have updated their apps to support Wayland-based sessions, and hardware makers like Nvidia have fixed issues in their drivers to support Wayland-based sessions.”
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Elementary OS 8.1 also now uses Linux kernel 6.14 and Mesa 25, bringing along some performance improvements and reduced power consumption for certain Intel and AMD hardware. This is also the first release with ARM64 builds, so if you have an Apple Silicon Mac, Raspberry Pi, or other ARM device with UEFI firmware, you can join the Elementary party. Fractional scaling should also now work better in the Secure Session (Wayland) mode.
You can download Elementary OS from the project’s official website, and several PC manufacturers sell computers with Elementary pre-installed.
Source: Elementary Blog
