On 12th September 2019, the GNOME Foundation has announced the release of GNOME 3.34 Thessaloniki, the latest half-yearly release from the project. This release includes many changes ranging from minor bug fixes to major visual improvements.

A preview of GNOME 3.34 Desktop A preview of GNOME 3.34 Desktop

GNOME 3.34 is another example that showcases the strength of the open-source community. This release is made possible by thousands of contributions from 777 developers across the world.

Why it is called Thessaloniki?

For the English speakers and readers, the name Thessaloniki will look a little strange. It is the name a Greece city where the most recent GUADEC was held on August 2019.

So, what is new on GNOME 3.34?

There are multiple visible improvements in GNOME 3.34. Following section briefs main highlights.

Custom icon folder in GNOME application overview

GNOME 3.34 introduces the ability to create custom icon folders in the application overview. This is similar to what we have seen in some mobile devices.

Custom icon folder in GNOME 3.34 Custom icon folder in GNOME 3.34

You can drag one icon over another to create a folder combining both. If you remove all the icons from a folder, the folder will be automatically deleted.

This cool feature makes application management easier in the GNOME desktop.

Improved browsing with GNOME Web

The GNOME Web browser is now able to isolate each web application. This helps to restrict the web application’s access to different resources. Also, the web browser introduces the capability to pin favorite tabs.

GNOME Web with pinned tabs GNOME Web with pinned tabs

The existing ad blocker implementation is rewritten with WebKit to improve the performance.

Improved background Settings

The improved background settings in GNOME Control Center helps to preview each background before setting. It also allows selecting custom images using the Add Picture button provided on top of the window.

Redesigned background settings Redesigned background settings

Other updates

  • There are many other updates available in GNOME 3.34.
  • GNOME 3.34 includes more data sources in Sysprof, making performance profiling an application even easier. With the improved profiling app, developers can track the resource consumption of their apps in a better way and improve.
  • Improved GNOME Boxes. The Virtual Machine application in GNOME desktop.
  • Improved GNOME games with the ability to save the state of multiple console games.
  • The music app is now able to automatically track the change in files and directories and pick the changes automatically.

For more updates read the GNOME 3.34 official release notes.

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