KDE Plasma 6.8 Beta 2 focuses on interface polish and bug fixes rather than a major redesign. KDE’s October 3, 2026 weekly report says the release is still in testing, with October 14 as the planned public release date—not a guarantee. The most visible changes include square corners on tiled windows, improved color handling in the Dictionary widget, and fixes for occasional double scrollbars in System Monitor.
What’s new in Plasma 6.8 Beta 2?
KDE’s October 3 weekly report describes a second beta within an ongoing bug-fixing and polish phase. The listed changes include both interface refinements and fixes to existing features.
Interface refinements
- Tiled windows: Their corners are now square, helping adjacent tiles fit together neatly.
- Dictionary widget: It now adapts its colors fully when you change the active color scheme or Plasma style.
- System Monitor: The Processes and Applications pages no longer sometimes show double scrollbars.
- Display notifications: Plasma sends fewer screen-configuration notifications, particularly when they offer little value.
Fixes and accessibility
- A crash involving applications closing or crashing in specific ways has been addressed.
- Spectacle screen recordings that sometimes failed to save have been fixed, and its Share feature works again.
- Notification-thumbnail drag-and-drop menus once again offer the Move option.
- Remote desktop authentication works with FreeRDP 3.32 or later, and a separate issue that could prevent new remote desktop sessions from starting has been fixed.
- The Brightness & Color widget is now fully screen-reader-friendly.
What’s included beyond the interface changes?
Kup backup scheduler
KDE’s Beta 2 announcement identifies Kup as a new Plasma module. Kup schedules backups for the Plasma desktop; KDE has described off-device backup as one use case and encourages operating-system developers to include it in their distributions. Its inclusion does not by itself mean a backup destination or schedule has been configured for you.
Union theming is a tech preview
Union can theme QtWidgets applications such as Dolphin and Kate, as well as QtQuick applications. KDE labels this support preliminary and expects bugs, so it should be treated as an experiment rather than a finished replacement for established application styles.
#1 Best Overall
- Read Before You Buy — No Video Output: These adapters support charging and USB 2.0 data transfer, but cannot transmit video signals. Except for standard USB webcams (which use USB data only), they are not compatible with HDMI/DisplayPort cables, video-capable USB-C hubs, or docking stations with video output.
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- Install the
unionpackage. The package name or availability may differ by distribution. - Open System Settings → Colors & Themes → Application Style.
- Select Breeze (Union) and apply the change.
- If you find a problem, compare the same application with Breeze. That helps establish whether the issue is specific to Union before reporting it.
How can you try Plasma 6.8 Beta 2?
KDE describes booting a live image from a USB disk as the easiest way to test Beta 2. A USB flash drive is useful for this route, but buying one is not a requirement for using Plasma. The announcement also links to Docker images, distribution package information, and instructions for compiling from source. Beta packages may not yet be available for every distribution, so check your distribution’s current package status before choosing that route.
A live image lets you try the beta without replacing your installed desktop, but it remains test software. KDE’s report says there have been “not many reported regressions” so far; that is a qualitative observation, not a measured stability result or a promise that the beta is safe for every production system. KDE is still asking people to test and report problems.
Rank #2
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What is not part of Plasma 6.8 Beta 2?
The October 3 report also discusses work planned for Plasma 6.9, including a Task Manager “Move to Screen” context-menu item and comments for custom ufw firewall rules in System Settings. These are 6.9 items, not features to expect in the 6.8 Beta 2 release.
Quick Recap
Best Value
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- Powerful Pass-Through Charging: Supports up to 85W pass-through charging so you can power up your laptop while you use the hub. Note: Pass-through charging requires a charger (not included). Note: To achieve full power for iPad, we recommend using a 45W wall charger.
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Rank #3
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- What You Get: Anker USB-C Hub (7-in-1), welcome guide, 18-month warranty, and our friendly customer service.
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