Following the [1]GIMP 3.0-RC1 tagging, the GIMP project has now put out their lengthy write-up outlining many of the new features to enjoy with this first release candidate of the much anticipated [2]GIMP 3.0 . Plus there is a few words about future releases when moving past the upcoming GIMP 3.0 stable.

The GIMP.org blog post outlines the new Wilber logo for GIMP 3.0, legacy icon theme improvements, color space enhancements, firming up the public API, updates to non-destructive editing, UI polishing, support for 64-bits per pixel images in BMP format, and more.

As far as when GIMP 3.0.0 will actually be released, it will come down to the number of bugs/regressions to deal with from GIMP 3.0 RC1 and seeing how many release candidates are actually warranted. So the GIMP.org project is not providing any date estimate for the GIMP 3.0.0 release at this time, besides the fact that it is indeed approaching and they " want it to happen as soon as possible, i.e. when we can consider our software to feel stable enough. "

When looking past GIMP 3.0, the GIMP developers are hoping GIMP 3.2 as the follow-on feature release will be out within about one year of GIMP 3.0. They will be focusing on smaller releases moving forward in part to help get them out the door sooner. The blog post explains:

"We are well aware that the path to GIMP 3.0 has been a long one, and GIMP 2.10 users have not had access to all of the great new features we’ve been working on over the years. Going forward, we are restructuring our development process to decrease time between releases. As briefly mentioned in our post 3.0 roadmap, we want to focus on smaller, feature-focused releases. This means that we are aiming for GIMP 3.2 to come out within a year after the final release of 3.0, rather than in 2050 as is often joked! Micro releases with bug fixes may happen in-between.

Smaller releases with few “big” features will also allow us to more thoroughly test each change, further improving the stability of each release. During the 3.0 development process, developers like Jacob Boerema, Lloyd Konneker, Bruno Lopes, and Jehan have been creating and improving our automated testing processes to further catch and identify bugs early. We will talk more about these improvements in future news posts."

Read more about the GIMP 3.0-RC1 changes and the GIMP 3.0 status via [3]GIMP.org .



[1] https://www.phoronix.com/news/GIMP-3.0-RC1

[2] https://www.phoronix.com/search/GIMP+3.0

[3] https://www.gimp.org/news/2024/11/06/gimp-3-0-RC1-released/