Fedora 42 Beta Is Now Available

The Fedora Project is preparing for the launch of Fedora 42, releasing a beta version for users to test before the final release.

Fedora is one of the most popular Linux distributions (distros), and serves as the upstream testing bed for Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). Fedora also has the reputation for pushing the Linux desktop forward, being among the first to adopt new technologies. As a result, each new version of Fedora is hotly anticipated, since it serves as glimpse into what is coming to RHEL and, to a lesser extent, the broader Linux community.

KDE Plasma

Beginning with Fedora 42 Beta, KDE Plasma has been promoted to full edition status, rather than being a spin. This puts it on the same footing as the default Gnome Workstation.

KDE Plasma has been promoted to edition status from F42 Beta onwards! You can expect to continue to enjoy the same level of quality from Fedora KDE as you always have, plus Fedora KDE is now supported on power systems (ppc64le). The full KDE stack (including KDE PIM) is also available on power. Additionally, F42 Beta offers installable live images for OpenPOWER based systems like the Talos Workstation from Raptor Systems.

Cosmic

Fedora is one of the first Linux distros outside of System76’s Pop!_OS to adopt the all-new Cosmic desktop that System76 has been developing. Unlike many other desktops environments—such as Cinnamon, Mate, Budgie, and others—which are forks of other desktops, Cosmic is being built from the ground up using Rust.

We have a new spin! Introducing the Fedora COSMIC spin – a new rust-based desktop environment developed by System76, makers of Pop!_OS. COSMIC has many unique features, such as hybrid per-workspace window/tiling management, window stacks with tabs to switch between windows and robust customization features that integrate with GTK and (later on) Qt!

DNF5

Fedora 42 also brings significant improvements to DNF5.

There has been some work done with DNF5 that now includes new logic that will remove expired and obsolete repository keys from the system, which means users can enjoy the automatic management of repository keys during software installation or upgrades.

Anaconda

Fedora 42 brings a number of changes to Anaconda, the installer Fedora has used for years. While powerful, Anaconda is widely criticized as one of the most unintuitive options in the Linux world. The new beta includes a several changes to improve the experience.

• Native Wayland application: Anaconda is now a native Wayland application in F42 Beta. It no longer supports X11 and instead, users can expect to have more consistent keyboard control with Anaconda being able to control keyboard layouts in the Wayland environment on Live ISOs and the remote graphical installations will use RDP instead of VNC.
• Web UI partitioning: The anaconda team have launched a new web user interface (UI) for partitioning in F42 Beta. With this new feature, the biggest benefit to Fedora users is the new guided partitioning function. This provides a more powerful automatic partitioning, where the user will select a goal and have additional customizations possible. This change also comes with a new “reinstall Fedora” which allows users to easily reinstall their system if something went wrong, and easy support for dual-boot installation. Users only need to make a free space and don’t have to understand other details.
• Web UI is now default for Fedora Workstation: This new web-based UI for the OS installer is now default for Fedora Workstation in F42 Beta. This means that users can enjoy a smooth installation experience, with features such as an installation progress indicator, built in help, configuration review and more. This new feature also includes Wizard that will allow users to skip what they don’t need at installation.

Fedora 42 Beta brings a number of additional changes, including the ones above. For more information, including some other minor additions and deprecations, see Fedora’s blog post.

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