KDE marked its 30th anniversary on October 14 with the release of Plasma 6.8, formally retiring native X11 session support and transitioning to Wayland as the primary display protocol.
The move ends X11 compatibility for starting new Plasma sessions after 42 years of service. Legacy X11 applications will continue to function through the XWayland compatibility layer, and KDE applications will remain X11 compatible under other desktop environments. Users staying on Plasma 6.7 retain their existing X11 sessions. GNOME has already begun phasing out default X11 support in 2025, making KDE's transition part of a broader industry shift away from the aging protocol.
Plasma 6.8 includes several technical improvements beyond the X11 sunset. Window decoration support expands to third-party applications, allowing shadows and rounded corners. The Union theming system received streamlining. Nvidia triple buffering now runs by default. Kup backup integration brings KDE's backup utility directly into Plasma. A new command-line tool, kscreenctl, lets advanced users adjust display settings without a GUI.
The System Monitor received a significant update, giving users finer control over running processes. The revamped tool allows pinning individual processes to specific CPU cores through the graphical interface.
Remote desktop capabilities saw notable expansion. KDE rebuilt Plasma's remote desktop server to handle virtual displays across networks more effectively. New features include clipboard synchronization between client and server, an "Exclusive Mode" that locks the server's physical display while allowing clients to set matching virtual ones, and adaptive remote streaming designed to stabilize connections on slower networks. These additions appeal particularly to homelabbers running network-dependent setups.
KDE also released The KDE Documentary: A Story of Free Software Underdogs to coincide with the anniversary. The film opens with contributors attempting to explain what KDE actually is, an exercise the documentary presents with humor.