The beta release of KDE's [1]Plasma 6.5 desktop took place on Thursday as they work toward the stable release expected on 21 October.

A module new to KDE Plasma 6.5 is KNightTime, which helps in [2]scheduling the dark-light cycle for the desktop and adjusting the screen's color temperature based on time of day and related functionality.

Also new to Plasma 6.5 is [3]support for GPU underlays , [4]addressing a 22 year old feature request around its clipboard, [5]rounded bottom corners for windows by default , and [6]various other desktop polishing . There is also [7]Wayland picture-in-picture support , Wayland pointer warping support, and various other Wayland enhancements too.

Plasma 6.5 also now allows configuring the tablet dials from the Plasma settings as well as tablet touch rings. There is also much better Sticky Notes support when placed in a panel.

KDE Plasma 6.5 beta downloads and more details on this new test release of the Plasma desktop via [8]KDE.org .



[1] https://www.phoronix.com/search/Plasma+6.5

[2] https://www.phoronix.com/news/KDE-Theme-Day-Night-Auto-Switch

[3] https://www.phoronix.com/news/KDE-Plasma-6.5-Underlays

[4] https://www.phoronix.com/news/KDE-Clipboard-22-Year-Old-Req

[5] https://www.phoronix.com/news/KDE-Rounded-Bottom-Corners

[6] https://www.phoronix.com/news/Plasma-6.5-Early-August-2025

[7] https://www.phoronix.com/news/KDE-Plasma-6.5-Wayland-PIP

[8] https://kde.org/announcements/plasma/6/6.4.90/